


Be My Songbird

by Syrisna



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2018-07-24
Packaged: 2019-01-23 00:19:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 25,283
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12494160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Syrisna/pseuds/Syrisna
Summary: She appeared during the war, saving Ace and Luffy from Akainu. Forcibly removing Whitebeard from Marine HQ, she single handedly turns the tables. Her reasons? No one knows except her. The Whitebeards are intrigued, and one phoenix can't help but feel drawn to her. Canon divergent. Alive Ace and Whitebeard.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own One Piece, but I own all my OC(s). And this story.

_ Gently caressing soft tresses under her fingers, she watched in silent contentment the rise and falls of their chests as they slept, snuggled soundly within the warm haven of their blankets. _

_ Her lips curled ever so slightly in a soft smile as she rose, making her way to the other side of the room. Various items were scattered across the wooden surface of the floor, and she moved soundlessly to pick them up; a blue top hat, a long, metal pipe, and a few sheets of paper that had been crudely drawn on. _

_ One by one, she returned them to their proper places; the hat by the bed, the pipe next to it, and the drawings in a file. As she arranged the sheets neatly and slipped them into the file, a small thump draws her attention back to the sleepers. _

_ One has flipped over, little body sprawled out haphazardly. A small voice could be heard with utmost clarity in the night, calling out for her. _

Don’t go…

_ She crossed the small space between them, kneeling to press her lips against a dreaming child's forehead and whispered promises to stay by them. _

Sweet dreams.

May you always be safe.

* * *

 

The skies were a dull grey, the vibrant blue hidden behind thick, heavy clouds with only the least amount of sunshine permeating it – as was the usual on a winter island.

At the southern edge of the island, where the evergreen forest that covered a good amount of the island ended, a cloaked figure dressed in black emerged from the tree line, leaving shallow imprints in the snow as they climbed a narrow path to the top of a cliff.

A large bird, almost twice their size, with downy feathers the colour of snow followed closely behind.

The frigid winter air blew harshly at the figure, a particularly strong gust of wind throwing off their hood to reveal a woman with long, dark hair. Ebony strands fluttered in the wind, plastered against pale skin while the rest were restrained in a woven braid that lay across the woman’s shoulder.

The bird cried in worry for its mistress, only to be silenced by a simple wave of her hand. Pulling the hood back over her head, the woman withdrew several coins from the depths of a pocket hidden under the cloak and waited in silence for the distinct cry of a seagull.

She didn’t have long to wait.

No sooner than a few minutes, a white bird wearing a postman’s hat came, bearing a money box and a sling pouch stacked with rolls of the daily paper. The woman extended an arm, on which the bird lightly landed and looked at her expectantly.

The coins were inserted into the opening on the money box, and she retrieved a single roll before the seagull once again took off into the sky.

With the newly acquired paper, the woman made her way down the cliff and back into the forest, where the trees would shield her from the wind as she read the paper. The News Coo didn’t like coming to winter islands much, and if she lost the papers to unfavourable weather, it would be too much trouble to procure another copy.

Deeper into the forest, the remnants of a campsite could be seen, the fire reduced to mere embers in the cold. The woman sat down in the snow, seemingly oblivious to the frigidity, and started to read.

The headlines caught her attention immediately.

**WHITEBEARD PIRATES SECOND DIVISION COMMANDER – PORTGAS D. ‘FIRE FIST’ ACE CAPTURED**

_ What? _

The woman blinked, thinking she had read it wrong.

She was out of luck, because the words stared back at her in large, bold lettering.

Fire Fist Ace had been captured.

And a new power had risen from it.

_ Blackbeard… no, Marshall D. Teach…  _ The paper scrunched up within the woman’s clenched fists.  _ That rat… _

A recent memory came to mind: A vision of a man fading into nothingness, an ominous, round silhouette and the shadow of a knife.

_ So that’s what it was…  _ She thought.  _ A premonition of betrayal. _

She scanned the remainder of the article carefully, hanging onto every word lest she missed anything. The article itself was curiously, not as long as she would expect from the capture of a pirate of Fire Fist’s calibre, but she supposed that was typical of the government.

The government likely did not want the public to know that it hadn’t been the marines who had detained the infamous pirate, but the newly appointed Shichibukai. True, there had been no mention of exactly whom had captured Fire Fist but seeing as news of his capture came out at the same time the appointment had, she would have to be blind if she did not understand the hidden message.

The woman flipped to the next page. Besides the headline news, the paper also had updates on the Enies Lobby Incident which made the headlines days ago. Her lips quirked lightly as she read about how Vice-Admiral Garp had ‘valiantly’ pursued his grandson, Monkey D. ‘Straw Hat’ Luffy only for the pirate and his crew to escape through ‘unorthodox’ means.

_ Interesting story.  _ She thought and closed the paper. The remaining articles weren’t as important, and she could get to them later. Now, she had more pressing concerns that demanded her attention.

The bird had settled down next to her when she started reading, and the woman now turned towards it. Knowing what its mistress wanted, the bird lifted its wings to reveal a pouch strapped to its side that was part of a harness. She put the rolled-up paper in and gently patted the bird on the head, eliciting a happy trill from it as she climbed onto its back, settling into the fur-lined saddle.

Feeling the familiar pat from its mistress that meant she was securely seated on its back, the bird spread its wings. One strong flap later, the bird shot out of the forest into the gloomy sky, looping several times before levelling itself and transitioning into a smooth flight.

The woman laughed from her seat, amused at the bird’s little show.

Reaching under her cloak, she withdrew a sleeping snail from the confines of her pocket. A white snail was attached to it to prevent any interceptions.

Dialling a set of numbers, the woman waited patiently for the other end to be picked up.

“Are you going?” The question left her as soon as a familiar voice greeted her through the transponder. The person at the receiving end laughed, replying that she already knew the answer.

“I won’t make it by ship though.” They said.

The woman smirked.

“I’ll pick you up.”

* * *

 

**A month later, the day of the execution.**

The clinking of chains reverberated loudly through the dark passageway of the dungeons. Too loud, in fact. Despite the presence of the guards who lined both sides of the passage, the dungeons were eerily silent.

Hands shackled behind him, a man glanced up at the long stairway that loomed before him, eventually disappearing into darkness.

_ That’s a long way up…  _ He thought, dark locks falling in his face and effectively shielding the steely, silver orbs that blankly observed the path ahead.

 “Climb.” A chain rattled as his escorts urged him to keep walking. He complied without resistance. There was no point to it; as he was now, he was a dead man walking.

Slowly but surely, he ascended the stairs, putting one foot in front of the other. His gaze did not fall, instead, it looked straight at the darkness before him.

He wasn’t afraid of the dark, never was, yet the shadows that encompassed the stairs stirred up a feeling of dread deep inside him. However, he wouldn’t lower his head to it.

_ 167… 168… 169… _

For every step he took, the feeling inside him grew. Outwardly, he retained an impassive expression, but inside he was churning with turmoil. He had known since long ago that he would emphatically end this way; what better way to discourage any potential law-breaker than to execute the progeny of the most evil man who ever lived? He had never deserved to live anyway. If it weren’t for him, his mother –a beautiful, strong, kind woman—would still be alive. He had stolen her life away from her, and now fate was taking it back.

Yet, in the short twenty years that he had lived, he had been told otherwise by so many others.

Luffy and Sabo were the first ever to do so. Ever since the first time they met, the younger raven had never held any ill will towards him. Despite his hostile attitude and many murder attempts, Luffy had said he wanted him to live. Sabo had been his first friend, his best friend and brother. The blonde had never cared that his father was Gol D. Roger and saw him for who he was. He would never tell anyone, but the actions of Luffy and Sabo, and the words that Luffy spoke that night was always kept close to his heart, keeping the darkness at bay. The warm feelings he always got when thinking of his brothers turned to worry as he remembered what Boa Hancock had told him. Luffy was in Impel Down. His chest tightened at the thought of his little brother in that hell hole.  _ Stupid brother! _ He thought.  _ Doesn't he know what kind of place that is! _

_ …okay, screw that thought.  _ If he knew Luffy, and he did, his little brother couldn’t care less if it was a pit leading straight to the underworld. He’d jump right in without a second thought.

He sighed inaudibly. Hopefully, Luffy would find a way out of that place. He might not escape without injury, but he’d be intact and in one piece, at the very least. Hopefully.

His thoughts drifted to the people he’d spent the last three years with and felt an unfamiliar twinge in his chest. After today, he would be lost to them forever. He wondered, if things had happened differently, where would he be now?

_ Probably not walking to my execution. _

He didn’t regret his decisions, however. If he could go back in time, he would make the same decisions, all over again.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as the creaking of hinges alerted him to his surroundings. He had reached the top of the stairs, and the door that stood between him and his impending fate was being slowly opened.

Seconds later, he felt the familiar caress of the ocean wind as it swept through his unkempt hair and the warmth of the afternoon sun seeping through his skin.

From where he stood, he could see the sprawling village below the bridge that led to a raised platform; that was where his execution would take place, he realized. Beyond that, he could see the mass of white uniforms that were assembled tightly in what he supposed was the harbour, and further out, the sparkling blue water of the bay.

It was, with no doubt, a sight to see.

His lips quirked in slight amusement. At least, his last view of the world would be a nice one.

His escorts led him down the bridge and up a short flight of stairs to the platform, securing his chains to the boards as soon as his knees hit the wood at the front. Some of the marines glanced up at him, appearing to be curious about the man that had incurred this large-scale execution. He pretended not to notice the stares, grey eyes fixed on the ocean.

He was soon joined by none other than the Fleet Admiral, Sengoku who requested a transponder snail that was handed over immediately. He wondered where that shitty geezer was, if he wasn't up here on the scaffold.

"I have something to tell you all…" Sengoku started, his voice resonating through the transponder system. "Portgas D. Ace. It's about the great significance of his death today."

_ This is it _ .

"Ace, tell them the name of your father."

Grey eyes flicked to his side, eyeing the larger man with the slightest hint of contempt.

Did the fleet admiral really think he’d just **_admit_** the truth about his blood? He scoffed in his mind.

"My father is Whitebeard." He finally said, just loud enough to be heard over the deafening silence that had fallen at the mention of his father.

"NO!" Sengoku denied loudly, unamused by his show of defiance, and he responded in kind, stating firmly that his only father was the man that took him in.

Sengoku launched into a tirade, retelling the events of twenty years ago, laying his past bare for the world to see. And at last, he showed the last card and revealed the identity of his blood father.

Gol D. Roger. The Pirate King.

He gritted his teeth at the revelation, the truth was out now, and there was nothing he could do.   

* * *

“So… how long are you going to leave him up there?”

Somewhere on Marineford, two cloaked figures chatted idly as they watched the Marine Fleet Admiral easily disclose a secret that had been kept safe from the world for twenty years.

From their vantage point, they had a clear view of the soon-to-be battlefield. An advantageous position which unfortunately, came at the price of not being able to see the expressions of the one that was sentenced to execution. They did, however, have a full view of his back and subsequently, his crew’s prided tattoo. Rich, dark purple ink mapped out the entirety of the design, forming a mark that was marred by his time in prison.

“Until his crew comes to get him, obviously.” The second figure replied, arms crossed beneath their cloak.

“And when will that be?”

“What makes you think I know?”

“Don’t know…maybe because you always seem to know everything?”

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

“So…?”

“Probably sometime in the next half-hour.”

“See? You do know.”

“Shut up.”

“Yes Ma’am.”

They watched as silence fell at the revelation of Portgas D. Ace’s bloodline. One of the figures moved to crouch down on the building’s parapet, while the other turned and walked away.

“Where are you going?” The former asked, noticing their companion’s receding presence.

A flash of metal was seen underneath the figure's cloak, and realization dawned immediately on the other.

"I'll be back soon. Feel free to join the party when they start."

"Roger. Have fun!"

Turning back to watch the execution, the figure on the parapet sighed, head resting in the crook of his palm.

“And~ she’s gone. Now all that’s left is for the Whitebeards to show up. Great. More waiting.”

…

Tension on the island was high and rising as time ticked by without so much as a splash. Neither the Whitebeards nor their allies were anywhere to be seen, and the marines were getting antsy.

Sengoku had just gone through their goal to execute the late Pirate King's son despite the risks it involved when one of his subordinates reported the unexpected opening of The Gates of Justice.

_ Just what is going on now?  _ Sengoku thought, sending a cursory glance towards the direction of the gates.

His question was promptly answered, when a lookout sounded the alarm. A fleet of ships could be seen on the horizon, fast-approaching the island. Forty-three ships, to be exact. Although none of them bore the mark of the Yonko, there was no doubt who those ships belonged to.

They were all allies of the Whitebeard Pirates. And if they were here, the Whitebeards themselves could not be too far away. The only question remaining was where exactly they were.

The marines scanned the horizon, hoping to find some indication as to where the strongest man in the world would appear from. They had no such luck. Everything remained stationary except the fleet that was quickly closing in on them.

The atmosphere shifted. Arms were raised, and weapons drawn.

Along with the sudden change in the air, Sengoku’s alarms were sent into overdrive, the cogs in his mind turning to figure out what had cause that sense of foreboding to occur. Whitebeard had something planned, that much the Fleet Admiral was certain.

The Yonko did not disappoint.

_ Of course.  _ Sengoku realized as he watched four identical ships pop up from the bay, water sliding off the bubble-like membrane before it burst, revealing the pirates that crowded the decks.  _ They coated their ships and travelled underwater. That’s how they got in. Why didn’t I think of that? _

He cursed himself for not considering every possibility, allowing Whitebeard to take advantage of it and invade Marine Headquarters. It had been an oversight on his part, forgetting the existence of the special resins that pirates utilized to cross under the Red Line and which the marines had never had a use for.

As the water in the bay settled after being abruptly disrupted, several prominent figures of the famed crew were identified before a distinct clanking sound was heard.

The marines waited as a large, elderly man came up to the bow of the ship directly facing them.

“It’s been a long while, Sengoku.” The Yonko greeted, a sharp edge to his grin.

“Whitebeard.” The Fleet Admiral returned grudgingly.

“You better tell me my beloved son is all right.”

…

“Now  _ that  _ I didn’t see coming.” The remaining cloaked figure whistled appreciatively at the Whitebeard Pirate’s impressive entrance. “Ace sure followed one crazy old man.”

He looked around, noting his surroundings, and scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm...where to go now? Maybe I'll go around? But the plaza is crawling with marines…Aha!" He spied an area near the edge of the village that was both elevated and hidden. A great hiding spot, except he had to pass by one of the watchtowers.

He contemplated it for a moment before deciding to throw caution to the wind.

_ Whatever. It’s not like they’d see me anyway. _

* * *

The corridors of Marine Headquarters were eerily quiet despite it only being the middle of the day, all the officers and recruits outside participating in the impending war, leaving only the non-military personnel in the building.

Opposite a window where sunlight streamed in from, a cloaked figure stood in front of the notice board, intently studying what appeared to be floor plans.

_ So right now, I’m over here.  _ A finger ghosted over the paper.  _ And over here are the offices… _

Apparently satisfied with their findings, the figure left the notice board, which was noticeably missing a few papers.

They noiselessly sauntered down the hallways, humming a soft tune as they tossed a small, metal sphere up and down absentmindedly. They never spared a glance at it yet caught the sphere without fail every time.

The figure didn’t even bother to conceal their presence in the building, openly walking without a care that someone might see them. Admittedly, there wasn’t a need for that, since the only people in the building weren’t part of the military, therefore reducing the chances of them being recognized. Even if someone did see them and managed to put a name to their face, they could be easily dealt with.

Alas, any one who would’ve recognized them were all on the battlefield outside.

On the way, the figure stopped in front of a closed door and peeked in, finding a storeroom that nobody seemed to use. At least, not on a regular basis, judging from all the dust.

_ Perfect. _

The metal sphere in their hands was thrown into the room, its trajectory carefully calculated so it rolled right into a corner, only stopping when it bumped into a shelf.

_ One down, eleven to go. _

Continuing down the corridor, the figure pulled out an identical metal sphere and resumed their previous actions.

The figure soon came to the highest floor in the building, where the offices of the highest-ranking officers were located and headed straight for the door that had ‘Fleet Admiral – Sengoku’ written on its plaque.

The door itself was huge --but then again, so was most of the building—though the figure pushed it open with ease. It really should say something about how lax their security was if even the Fleet Admiral’s office door was left unlocked. Apparently, the thought that someone would sneak in while the marines were occupied outside never crossed their minds.

Oh well, at least it made things a lot more convenient.

The office was large, sparsely furnished with a desk and chair along with a couch and coffee table. Several shelves lined the far wall, holding rows worth of folders. Opposite that was a large window that opened up to a direct view of the plaza, and from there the figure watched as one of the Admirals, Aokiji froze a tsunami as it came down on the island along the surrounding ocean, effectively trapping the pirates.

Also, there was a goat –of all things—sleeping in the corner of the office, a half-chewed piece of paper sticking out of its mouth.

The figure was suddenly and immensely glad that they rarely travelled by ship. It would have been a huge hassle to free a ship from the frozen water.

From the window, the figure had a hawk-eye view of the war that was slowly descending into chaos. Kizaru had launched an attack at Whitebeard which had been blocked by his first commander, and now the two were fighting in mid-air in a bright tangle of yellow and blue. Below them, pirates and marines charged each other, and the air reverberated with the sound of metal clashing against metal.

Tearing their gaze from the carnage outside, they moved to the office table and started looking through the drawers, only pausing to pick the locks. When they didn’t find what they wanted at the desk, they moved to the shelves and looked through the files, flipping through the recorded information as quickly as possible. It took some time, but they finally found the information they wanted.

Returning the office to its previous state sans a file or two, the figure left the office.

Outside, they could hear the loud voice of the giant captain Little Oars Jr. as he broke through the front lines.

It was time to go.

* * *

 

Luffy was convinced that Lady Luck hated him. And no, he wasn’t exaggerating.

Because she definitely had it in for him when everything bad came together and happened  **_at the goddamn same time_ ** .

First off, Ace got captured. Then his crew were separated by that bear-guy-with beams and he got sent to that island with lots of women. And then he found out that his brother was about to be executed.

Being the good little brother he is, Luffy had decided to postpone meeting up with his crew in favour of rescuing his older brother. With help from Hancock, he had snuck into Impel Down, which was apparently the most secure prison in the world. A fact that Luffy found questionable – he’d gotten in, hadn’t he? Not to mention he had found Buggy running around Level 1  **_without_ ** cuffs.

Things went smoothly for a while; he’d ran into Mr. Three and Bon-chan on Level 3 and Level 4 and had almost gotten to the next level when things went south for them. Luffy didn’t remember much of what happened after the fight with Magellan; he had been poisoned to near death, or so he was told. When he finally reached Level 6 together with Iva-chan and his friends, he just had to have missed Ace.

Luffy shrugged it off easily. It was a small setback, but he would catch up to his brother.

Escaping had taken longer than he would’ve liked, even with Jinbe and Crocodile’s help, but Luffy supposed it couldn’t be helped, especially when that chess-teethed bastard showed up. Despite the many obstacles in their way, Luffy and the horde of prisoners eventually made it out and immediately set sail on a stolen warship, riding the Tarai current towards Marineford.

The prisoners and Luffy reached Marineford some time after the war had begun. They had been nearing it when some genius decided to cause a freaking tsunami which promptly turned to ice --a feat Luffy was sure belonged to Aokiji— and placed their ship a couple hundred feet above the ground.

And the next thing he knew, everyone was free falling, courtesy of gravity (and a certain idiot, who for once, was not him) towards a large pool of seawater in a supposedly iced over bay. They went down screaming their heads off and drew the attention of every person in the vicinity.

Just before they hit the ground, Luffy instinctively squeezed his eyes shut.

The next time he opened his eyes, he was lying on the now destroyed ship (it had fallen with them) gulping for air.

Sitting up, he looked around, watching the battles as they raged on.

_ Where’s Ace?  _ He wondered, trying to find his brother.

Scrabbling to his feet, he made his way up the ship that was tilting dangerously on one side, breaking through the barrage of marines that came at him. A grandiose building that had MARINE engraved on its walls came into sight as he reached the tip of the ship and he stared at it for a moment, processing his current surroundings.

A cannon ball flew, exploding in the water in front of him and blocking him with a curtain of blue.

Luffy's gaze travelled down as the water subsided, dark eyes finally meeting with silver ones.

Suddenly, it was as if the haze of the war had lifted and everything came into focus once again.

He grinned.  _ Found you. _

"ACE!"

He barely had time to be rejoiced.

That stupid sand croc had gone and attacked that giant ossan with the really cool moustache.

Without hesitation, he activated Gear Second and went after the logia user, kicking  him out of the way just as he was coming down on the giant man. His former enemy hadn't been very happy, accusingly asking him why he was getting in his way when he had fulfilled his promise of helping him escape Impel Down.

Luffy didn’t really have a reason to do so. However, the giant ossan was Ace's captain, and that was reason enough for him to step in. Ace liked him, and he did not hesitate to make that fact known.

Of course, Ace's captain or not, Luffy didn't care as he angrily retorted when the Yonko had shouted that he would die if he tried to enter the   war.

Fearless idiot that he was, the younger captain all but challenged Whitebeard for the title of king, receiving an amused comment on his attitude and a warning to stay out of the way from the older man. The Yonko was then alerted to the marines change of plans before the Straw Hat captain took off onto the battlefield, his sights focused on Ace and only Ace.

Everything happened so fast it was almost a blur in his mind. But somehow, it still managed to register.

He remembered everything; the admiral from Sabaody attacking him; the bear-guys-with-beams; two weird marines who looked vaguely familiar; the pink haired captain from Alabasta; the stupid shadow thief leek guy from that zombie island and Ace's captain getting stabbed by some guy. And Coby, the first friend Luffy had made on the sea who bravely stood up to him.

Despite his brother telling him to leave; telling him he did not need his "weak" little brother to save him, he pushed on. And then that seagull ossan told everyone who his dad was.

Big deal. He didn't care anyway. So what if he and Ace weren't related by blood? They were still brothers and that was all that mattered.

To Luffy, his top priority now was getting to his brother. He wouldn't stop, not even if it meant death.

It wasn't easy however.

Many powerful individuals stood in his way, all with different motives. Thankfully, reinforcement was present in the form of Ace’s crew.

Breathing heavily, he pushed forward.

He needed to get to Ace.

After almost dying several times, Luffy finally advanced the final stretch of distance that separated the brothers.

He had come so far and wasn't going to let anyone else delay him any longer. No matter what stood in his way, not even if it happened to be their Grandpa.

Luffy glared at his grandfather who stood on the path Inazuma had created, preventing him from reaching Ace. He wanted to punch his way through, but at the same time, he didn't want to hurt his Grandpa.

His confliction showed, but Garp stood his ground, though it pained him greatly to do so.

"Luffy, I consider you...my enemy!" Their fists met, and Garp fell to the ground below.

_ I'm sorry I let you down... please, Luffy, save your brother. _

_ Save Ace. _

* * *

 

_ Crap. _

Darting across the ice, a cloaked figure cursed as the marines’ Encircling Wall went up, cutting off the frozen bay from the rest of the island.

_ Why did I think it was good idea to come down here again?  _ Because how the fuck was he supposed to get back up there now?!

Changing course for the nearest section of the wall, the figure stopped short of it and slammed the base of his weapon –a long, metal pipe, in this case—into the smooth surface.

The resounding clang told him all he needed to know.

_ Great. It’s completely solid. Damn marines just have to make our lives harder every day. _

He sighed, wishing that his companion was here with him instead of loitering somewhere inside Marine Headquarters. If it were her, he had no doubt that an ‘Encircling Wall’ wouldn’t even faze her. Knowing her, she would only view it as a mild hindrance. Or possibly not even a hindrance.

_ What was that she said earlier?  _ He thought, an odd comment from his companion before she left coming to mind as he tried to figure out how to get past the wall.  _ ‘If anything comes up, just go ahead and break them.’? _

He eyed the wall dubiously.  _ Well… something certainly came up, in both sense of the phrase, but she couldn’t have meant this? _

He pondered it for a moment, ultimately deciding that it couldn’t hurt to try.

“Well, desperate times call for desperate measure. Sorry wall.” He muttered under his breath and slid his weapon back underneath his cloak.

Putting his hands to the wall, he started rapping on it. Several pirates nearby were drawn by the sound and were surprised to see a stranger knocking on the wall that was preventing them from reaching their target.

"That guy over there! What do you think you're doing!" One of them shouted at him.

Ignoring them, he continued until he found what he was looking for.

A black sheen covered his bare hands, and his hands, balled into fists, embedded themselves into the thick slab.

" **Dragon Claw Fist…"**

Cracks spiderwebbed from the point of impact.

_ Well, whaddya know. _

 

" **Dragon Breath."**

Air rushed through the cracks, and the wall cracked completely, leaving only the area around the point of impact intact.

“I swear I’m never doubting her again… wait, have I said that before?”

Pulling his hands from the rubble, he gave them a light pat.

 

"Sorry. But you had to go." He grinned, not at all apologetic despite his words.

At that point, everyone's attention had been drawn to the cloaked figure that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The pirates openly gaped at him while the marines froze in horror; even Whitebeard with his Gura-gura no mi hadn't been able to break the wall, yet this person who seemingly appeared out of nowhere had broken it with ease. Noticing the amount of attention on him, he shot a glare at the nearest pirates.

"Well what are you people standing around for? A written invitation?" He snapped, mildly annoyed at their distraction from their primary objective.

As the outlaws registered the fact that someone had broken through the wall and created an opening other than the one which was blocked by Little Oars Jr., their faces lit up and they charged through the rubble with renewed vigour, some clapping him on the shoulder in a show of thanks as they rushed by.

Honestly, he didn’t need that. He thought as he rubbed his shoulders, where some of the pirates had forgotten their strength and clapped a little too hard.

He had almost followed them, but the feeling of several pairs of eyes burning into his back spurred him to turn and meet them, only he avoided making any contact with the admirals and instead met yellow with blue across the battlefield.

The old captain stared blankly at the cloaked man who had aided them, his unwavering gaze almost unnerving.

He was about to break eye contact and continue his merry way when Whitebeard broke into a grin, accompanied with a nod of appreciation. Tipping his head in reminiscent of a bow in return, he decided to change course again, heading towards the Yonko instead of following the pirates like he had planned to.

He was highly aware of the horrified stares the marines sent his way as he expertly weaved his way through hordes of pirates, though he ignored them entirely.

He was nearing the Moby Dick when a huge stream of water cut him off.

_ What the…? _

His question was answered in the form of a dripping wet Luffy who stood defiantly in front of the three admirals, a broken mast wrapped under one arm which was promptly frozen by Aokiji.

The Straw Hat captain didn’t hesitate to attack them, his Gatling attack sending the mast flying at the admirals in frozen shards.

_ That idiot! Is he suicidal?! _ He freaked from his spot in the middle of the battlefield. He was so very tempted to just go in and maybe knock some sense into that non-existent brain of his, but a small voice at the back of his mind told him that was a bad idea.

Taking a deep breath, he continued his way. The Straw Hat captain could take care of himself; even if he couldn't, well there's Emporio Ivankov behind him and Sea Knight Jinbe. Between the two of them, the young pirate captain would be fine. Probably.

He arrived at the base of the large ship a moment later, just in time as a sudden pressure descended on the battlefield accompanied with a loud "STOP!".

Haoshoku haki.

Within his field of vision, marines and pirates fell to the ground in a large circle around the Straw Hat pirate, unconscious and foaming at the mouth. Though there seemed to be more marines than pirates.

He heard Whitebeard’s signature laugh and pushed away the worry for such an ability being disclosed to the marines, deftly scaled the ship, landing lightly atop the whale   
figurehead.

The Whitebeard Pirates, under their captain's direct orders had reformed ranks behind the rookie pirate, providing him the backup he needed to keep moving forward without hindrance.

He looked up at Whitebeard as he came up beside him, his hood shadowing the mask he wore as he voiced a question to the elderly captain. Beside him, the captain of the Maelstrom Spider Pirates, Squard was staring at the newcomer in surprise, the remnants of tears still visible on his pale skin.

"You don't plan to leave this place alive, do you?" It wasn't really a question, though it sounded like one.

"Who are you, brat?" The older man retorted, his gaze fixed on the war. His torso was bloodied from the wound where Squard had previously stabbed him.

The cloaked man shrugged. "Just an ally."

Yellow eyes averted themselves, and he heard the captain snort.

"I'm a relic of the sea, brat. I've lived long enough."

"That may be so, but I have orders.  _ Very _ explicit orders." He replied, allowing just a hint of trepidation to seep into his voice, knowing the giant man would easily sense it.

"Oh?"

"I'm not allowed to let you die here."

Whitebeard scoffed at his apparent insolence.

"And what makes you think you can prevent that?"

"I don't know. Perhaps the threat on my life if I actually let you die in such a worthless place?"

"…cheeky brat."

"I aim to please."

* * *

 

_ He was free. _

Running with all his might, Ace couldn’t help the one thought that kept flashing through his mind nor the elated whoop as he felt his fire coursing through his veins again after being subdued for too long.

_ He was  _ **_free_ ** .

And it was all thanks to Luffy.

Glancing at his little brother running next to him out of the corner of his eye, Ace felt his heart swell with pride. It had only been a few months since they had run into each other in Alabasta, yet his little brother had grown so much.

The Luffy he had met then would have been K. O’ed the second he set foot in this place, but not only had his little brother brought utter chaos to the war, he’d also successfully set Ace free. Granted, his crewmates had helped a lot by keeping the stronger marines off Luffy’s back, but still, his little brother had undeniably spearheaded the later half of the battle.

Ace couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he fell back into old fighting styles that only worked with his brother, the both matching each other step for step as they ploughed through the enemy ranks without so much as a glance at the other.

He could almost smell his freedom.

Just a little more, and he’d be home free.

 

And then shit happened, because someone up there must really hate him. (It wouldn’t be far-fetched; most of the world hated him anyway.)

Whitebeard –their captain, their Oyaji—had ordered the crew and their allies to retreat to the New World without him.

The Yonko would stay to finish what they had started while his sons escaped back to the open sea.

Ace almost cried out at the order, because how could their captain say that? How could he say that now, now that Ace was free and on his way back to them?

Did his father come to save him, intending to make Marineford his grave?

A sharp pain clenched his heart, and Ace felt his eyes grow wet with tears that were threatening to fall.

Akainu, that annoying, self-centred magma jerk had expectedly chased after them, all the while spewing his nonsense about Absolute Justice and later, insulting Whitebeard for telling his crew and allies to fall back.

Ace felt his blood boil at the slandering. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and give the Admiral a piece of his mind, but the more rational part of his mind repeatedly reminded him that that was a very, very, very bad idea.

The last straw was finally broken when Akainu decided to call Whitebeard a ‘coward’. And bad idea or not, that was something Ace wasn’t going to take lying down.

Whitebeard was many things, but a ‘coward’ was in no way, one of those things.

The fire-logia stopped running and turned around to confront the Admiral, wholly unaware that he’d taken the older man’s bait.

“Don’t make fun of the man who saved my life!” He yelled, readying himself for an attack. He ignored the frantic shouts of Luffy and his crewmates behind him, his temper getting the better of him and clouding his judgement.

“The name of this era… is WHITEBEARD!!!” Ace thrust his fist forward, unleashing the attack he’d gained his moniker from.

Magma and fire clashed.

He was overwhelmed.

Subconsciously, he registered Jinbe yelling at Luffy as he stumbled. Pushing himself to his knees, Ace glared at Akainu, though the man didn’t seem to be looking at him.

Instead, the Admiral appeared to be looking at something else, something off to his right…

Ace’s eyes widened in horror as he realised where that manic look was being directed towards.

**_Luffy!!_ **

Akainu charged before Ace could blink, his magma covered fist pulled back, ready to put a hole through Dragon’s son.

The attack came down swift and hard unto the unknowing teenager.

Instinctively, Ace moved to shield his little brother even though he knew he wouldn’t make it. Fatigue and hunger was catching up to him, overpowering the adrenaline rush that was already dying down with ease.

_ I won’t make it!  _ Ace felt his heart drop as he rushed forward. Everything seemed to have slowed down, and he watched in horror as the shadow of death descended on Luffy.

_ NONONONONONONONO!!!!!!! _

A black blur shot past him towards his little brother, scooping up the bewildered teenager at the very last second.

Silver flashed as the figure nimbly jumped out of the way, and a cry of pain permeated the air.

Blood spilled, dyeing the ice a vivid crimson.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read, and hopefully, leave me a comment? I like to hear (read) what people think.  
> Feedback is appreciated no matter good or bad, so fire away! (;


	2. Chapter 2

_ Drip. _

Marineford fell silent, the sound of blood dripping onto the ice faintly echoing through the stagnant air.

“Don’t you  **_dare_ ** touch them, Admiral.”

Sound returned, the veil of silence broken by a cold, biting voice which sent chills down even the strongest men’s spine.

In front of a dumbfounded Ace, a figure cloaked in black stood defensively, twin daggers held at the ready. One of the daggers was streaked with red, crimson rivers running along the edge of the blade before falling to the ground below.

Hunched over the ice, Akainu gripped his left arm which had been severed from the elbow down, glaring at the figure with the intensity of a thousand volcanoes.

“Who are you, woman.” He snarled.

The figure –woman—flicked her wrist sharply, ridding the blade in her right hand of any remaining blood. The daggers were nothing special, just a regular pair that could be found in any decent weapon’s shop, but in her hands with the light of the afternoon sun reflecting off them, they seemed a lot more ominous.

Blood splattered onto the frozen ground and the marines spread out along the perimeter flinched as the droplets hit the ice, the crimson stains proof of the shocking twist of events before them.

“I see no reason to answer you.” The woman bit back vitriolically and straightened, allowing the Admiral to glimpse the black mask that covered the bottom half of her face to her neck. A distinct mark stitched with blue thread decorated the mask below her right eye. If it hadn’t been for their proximity, the mark would have been easily overlooked due to its dark colour.

Akainu had seen the mark, and with the slight widening of his eyes, had also recognized it.

“You!” Fleetingly, the Admiral was surprised, but it immediately devolved into unadulterated hostility and rage. “What is an assassin from Noite doing here, Black Queen Rainha?”

His revelation surprised many. Noite was a name well-known on the seas – It was an organization founded and headed by Carin --a master assassin and a powerful figure not unlike Whitebeard, Gol D. Roger and others from their era—which made its name through assassination and mercenary work.

And amongst the many assassins and mercenaries that had gathered under its mark, Black Queen Rainha was one of the more prominent members and rumoured to be one of the higher-ranking members.

“That is none of your concern.” She replied, somehow managing to sound harsh and polite at the same time. Then, she turned a bit to look at the young pirate behind her while keeping her focus trained on the marine in front of her. “ **_GO._ ** ” She hissed.

Ace didn’t argue and quickly scrambled to his feet, throwing a wary look in Akainu’s direction before running towards the other cloaked person who had saved Luffy earlier.

With Ace out of harm’s way, Rainha’s attention returned to the marine Admiral who was now glowering at her. Obviously, the man hadn’t appreciated her intervention which had cost him one of his arms and foiled his murder attempt on both Roger and Dragon’s children, though she couldn’t care less.

Lucky for Akainu, his devil fruit had cauterized the wound, so he was in no danger of losing too much blood, yet it did not stop the sheen of cold sweat that had broken out across his skin.

Dark eyes filled with hate bore into her. “Does Noite intend to side with pirates?” He spat out, as if just saying the words themselves disgusted him. Clearly, he was teetering on the brink of irrationality already if he had asked that question, when Noite had long ago made itself clear that it remained neutral in the war between pirates and marines. Although, she supposed, her actions today would have hinted otherwise.

“Again, none of your concern.” She replied.

In her peripheral vision, Rainha could see her companion had been joined by Ace and several others, including Jinbe, Ivankov and Inazuma. There were others that she didn’t recognize but were most likely Ivankov’s followers, if their choice of clothing were any indication. The little ragtag group appeared to be conversing about something or another, but there was a time and place for everything, and right now, they should be running. Running fast  **_and_ ** hard!

In the privacy of her mind, Rainha couldn’t help but sigh.  _ What are those idiots doing…? _

“Don’t get in my way.” Akainu growled, his wounded arm morphing into magma that dripped onto the ice and sizzled. “Their evil bloodlines must be purged!”

The assassin’s senses spiked, and she moved on instinct, leaping out of the way of a sizzling glob of molten rock. Taking advantage of her minute distraction, Akainu charged towards Ace and Luffy.

_ Oh no you don’t.  _ She reacted instantly, jumping in front of the admiral again, a dagger brought up to block the attack. The admiral clicked his tongue in annoyance, and struck again, only to be matched each time by Rainha.

Behind her, the assassin heard her companion urging his group into motion, finally remembering their current predicament. However, they were too close, and she didn’t think she would be able to hold Akainu back long enough for them to get away.

Well, she probably could if she used her powers, but she didn’t want to throw that card away just yet.

If she timed it right…

Akainu attacked again, and this time, instead of pushing back, Rainha used the force behind the blow to propel herself backwards, landing just a few feet away from the group of pirates and okamas.

Not one to waste time, she whipped out a small, silver whistle from under her cloak and blew on it. The whistle’s sharp tune echoed on the battlefield, doubled only by the shrill cry of a huge white bird that swooped out of nowhere and landed beside the assassin.

“Boys. Ship. Now.” She instructed, and the bird trilled in reply, taking flight again before swooping down in a steep arc to grab the second cloaked person with the two D. brothers and Jinbe in tow.

“So, Noite intends to stand against the marines, is that it?” Akainu growled as he threw an attack at the retreating forms in the sky, which was blocked again by Rainha, who cut down his attacks with surprising ease. His next attack, his directed at the assassin who hindered him continuously. “That means I will have to get rid of you too.”

Rainha scoffed. “I’d like to see you try.”

Akainu had a manic glint in his eyes as he brought down his magma-covered fist on her. She made no move to dodge the attack.

“Watch out!” All around, pirates cried out in warning while the marines watched horrified as one of their leaders made to  **_murder_ ** the assassin.

They waited with bated breath for the attack to make contact.

It never did.

No one saw how she moved, or if she even did.

All they saw was that one moment, Akainu was about to kill her, and the next, he had disappeared and there was a resounding splash from somewhere that couldn’t be named.

“Oh my, looks like he went for a swim.” The assassin commented offhandedly. “And I would halt where I am if I were you, Admirals.”

On the other side of the frozen bay, Aokiji and Kizaru simultaneously stopped in their tracks as a cold pressure pressed against their throat.

Her arms were raised, two blades held in a position that left no doubt that the pressure they were feeling were from that pair of daggers.

 “Wise choice.”

Pirates and marines alike broke out in cold sweat as they watched the exchange in horror. How had the assassin managed to not only hold off two marine admirals at the same time, but also put the third and strongest one out of the fight?! The Admirals hadn’t gained their positions by being pretty; they possessed strength that far surpassed most others, and only a handful of people could match them – people who made monsters seem like a joke.

It was an unthinkable feat, yet she had pulled it off.

And there was the fact that both admirals weren’t even resisting for some unknown reason.

…

“What are you doing here, Rainha?” Aokiji asked as he shifted, stuffing his hands down his front pockets. His posture seemed relaxed, but he was still wary of the blade that was pressing down ever so slightly. From far away, the daggers hadn’t seemed like much; he had had his suspicions when Rainha amputated Akainu’s left forearm, but being in direct contact with it, Aokiji knew that it wasn’t just Haki that had been responsible for it.

It sapped him of his powers, weakening him, but not quite rendering him incapacitated.

Those daggers were seastone weapons.

“Surprising you should ask.” Rainha spoke after a small moment of silence. “You should know better than anyone, Admiral Aokiji.”

* * *

 

“Captain! Marineford is in sight!”

“That so? Get ready then.”

“Aye!!”

Aboard a large ship with a dragon figurehead, a red-haired man looked up from where he was seated, dark eyes glinting under the daylight. He rose to his feet shortly after, moving to stand at the prow of the ship, his right hand coming to rest on his sword’s hilt.

_ Luffy… Ace… _

* * *

Luffy had absolutely no idea what was going on.

If memory served him right, at this moment he was supposed to be dead. Or on the brink of it, at least.

Because for all his bullheadedness, Luffy knew there was no way he would have survived the blow that he’d seen at the last second.

So why was he now looking up at a masked man while being carried in said man’s arms, completely unharmed save for what he’d accumulated previously?

“Are you okay?” The man asked, his voice somewhat muffled by the mask he wore. Luffy dumbly nodded. He was fine… probably. “You have no idea, do you?”

Luffy shook his head.

“I figured as much.” The man mumbled. He sighed, and adjusted Luffy so that they were in a more comfortable position. “And why is  **he** still sitting there?”

The man sounded annoyed.

From his position, Luffy could see what was happening on the battlefield if he just craned his neck a bit...and his eyes naturally zeroed in on the figure that was making their way towards the two of them.

“Ace!” He yelled, but it came out only a little above a whisper.

Suddenly, Luffy became a lot more aware of the state of his body; his was extremely tired, barely able to feel himself, and his eyelids felt heavier every passing second. Maybe he could sneak a few seconds of shut-eye… but Ace was here, and he was being carried by someone he didn’t know… wait, what?

His eyes, just one step away from closing completely, snapped open instantly. At the same time, it drew the attention of the man carrying him away from Ace.

“Is something wrong—” He stated, abruptly cut off by an unexpectedly wary Luffy.

“Who are you?” The Straw Hat captain asked in a low voice. Had his crew been present, they’d have recognized the tone their captain used as one that he generally reserved for kicking ass. Unfortunately, they weren’t, though the man seemed to get the undertone of his question well enough.

In response, the man snorted. “I’m a government agent sent to kill you.”

His answer easily caught Luffy off guard. Although, to be fair, he wasn’t the only one.

Ace and Jinbe, who had both entered hearing distance were equally surprised to the extent that the fire-logia had very nearly lost his footing on the ice which had almost caused the fishman to collide with him.

“Really?” Luffy asked, eyes blown wide.

“Ya think?”

All three looked at him with similar ‘Are you being serious’ expressions. Luffy blinked, and promptly replied that he didn’t believe the man.

“I was being sarcastic.” He said to no one. “Now come on, we need to get out of here—”

At that precise moment, a large man with an even larger purple afro came running, followed by a man who looked like a half-done paint job. Behind them, several others were running to keep up with the two ahead.

“Straw Hat boy!”

“Iva-san?” Luffy heard the man mutter, sounding surprised.

Does this guy know Iva-chan? He wondered.

Before he had a chance to ask, his attention was stolen by the Okama Queen who was yelling at him for his recklessness.

“Vyou’re too reckless! Vyou’re just like vyour father!” Ivankov scolded. Apparently, Dragon was just as reckless as his son, though he was smarter about it. The Okama Queen would have continued his berating if it weren’t for a sudden action that jarred them back to reality; they’d been too relieved that they had forgotten they were on a battlefield during a war.

Akainu had lunged towards them to get to the D. brothers but was repeatedly obstructed by the Black Queen.

“We have to go NOW!” The masked man sounded more frantic than before, and Luffy could tell he was so close to yelling in frustration because of all the dilly-dallying.

Their little group had started to run when the assassin landed next to them. A sharp sound emanated from a small silver whistle in Rainha’s hand, followed by a shrill bird cry.

Luffy didn’t catch what the assassin had said, but he did hear the curse that spewed from the masked man’s mouth.

“Shit.” Was all the man could say before a pair of talons dug into his shoulders. “Guys, hold on tight. And whatever you do, DON’T SCREAM.”

Ace tried to protest but Jinbe grabbed him and latched onto the man. Ivankov tried to grab ahold of him too, but before he could…

The feeling of air rushing by filled their senses.

Ace screamed. Luffy would too, but he was too tired.

The man would've face palmed had he not have his hands full with Luffy.

"I just said…oh never mind."

* * *

Hundreds of eyes followed the bird’s flight path, watching as it gracefully descended next to the Whitebeard captain and dropped its passengers into a heaping pile a couple foot from the ground –except for Jinbe, who managed to land on his feet—before landing next to them.

No one would mention it, but more than a few had jumped when the large bird landed on the ice. They had known the bird would be large, but no one had imagined it to be almost as big as one of the slightly larger than average commanders – the eighth and fourteenth division commanders, for example.

The cloaked man, who was at the top of the pile groaned and carelessly rolled down onto the ground.

“Damn it, Oru…” He cursed as he sat up and rubbed his shoulders, all the while glaring daggers at the bird. The material near the shoulders were torn, hints of blue showing through the tears, and even those seemed ready to break apart at the slightest movement.

“This was my favourite coat!”

The bird didn’t respond, its sharp eyes trained solely on its mistress in the middle of the battlefield.

The man who was aware as well that the bird –Oru—wasn’t paying attention to him, redirected his focus to the two pirates who were still plastered to the ground and sighed.

Despite the dire situation, the Whitebeard Pirates could not help gawking at the situation before them. When they came to war, they had expected to welcome Ace back in all his fiery glory. They had  **not** expected their brother to come back to them by way of bird, clinging onto some stranger for dear life in the air and thrown on the ground in a pile.

They had not expected the sudden splash that came from behind them, nor how their brother’s saviour had somehow managed to deter Aokiji and Kizaru either.

The two Admirals had been in hot pursuit of the two ‘demon children’ and one unexpected ally, both men racing across the ice to reach their targets before they reached their allies.

The effort, however was proven futile when the Black Queen stopped them without even moving from her position.

Even from the other side of the bay, her voice resonated with clarity. There was a comment about someone going for a swim –which was likely the source of that splash—before she addressed the admirals. “And I would halt where I am if I were you, Admirals.” She said coolly.

Both her arms were raised, ready to strike. As one, Aokiji and Kizaru stopped in their tracks and sent wary looks towards the assassin.

The Whitebeard Pirate’s twelfth division commander, a young man dressed in a green shirt coupled with white pants by name of Haruta, was whistling in awe. “How does she do that?” He muttered, a look of wonder crossing his features.

“She’s awesome.” A few others voiced their agreements.

Someone nudged the commander teasingly. “You really like her, don’t you?”

Haruta laughed sheepishly at the comment. It was well known amongst the crew that he was a big fan of the Black Queen. The assassin’s name appeared every now and then in the papers, generally accompanied with news of an assassination somewhere. Otherwise, there was very little information on her. So far, all the newspapers had gotten was a picture of her mark, a customized version of Noite’s own symbol.  

However, if one had the right connections, they’d find that the assassin was most often involved with the destruction of slave markets and trader ships anywhere and everywhere.

That had been what had piqued the commander’s interest in the first place, and after a few questions along the grapevine, he’d decided that Black Queen Rainha was awesome and worthy enough to earn a place on his personal pedestal.

It was a pity they had never met the assassin herself. For some reason or another, the members of Noite seemed to avoid any contact with the Whitebeard Pirates, though they didn’t know if the same could be said for the other Yonko. Some had joked once that the assassins took their position of neutrality way too seriously.

“Oi! You guys aren’t much better, y’know!” Haruta retorted when some of the crew started calling him ‘fanboy’. “Besides, how many people do you think could pull  **that** off?” He pointed at the scene which had captured most everyone’s attention.

“Not many.” A geisha-like man interrupted, pistols grasped tightly in both hands. “However, we should perhaps hold off this discussion for a later time, preferably when we’re NOT AT WAR.”

While the pirates had been distracted, they hadn’t missed the exchange between Aokiji and Rainha for all that it didn’t make sense to anyone.

The same couldn’t be said for the masked man who was nudging the D. brothers with his foot.

“Don’t tell me they passed out…” They heard him mutter to himself.

The Whitebeard’s first division commander – Marco, crouched down next to the heap of brothers, poking at the tangle of limbs that were supposed to be their second division commander and his rookie brother.

“Oi Ace, Straw Hat, are you two still with us yoi?”

Marco’s incessant poking successfully roused the two, and a muffled voice was heard that sounded distinctly like swearing – the overly colourful kind that could only have come from one fire-logia.

“Looks like you are,” The blond man said, standing up. “Come on, you two. We have to get going.”

The Whitebeard Pirates, who had been amid retreating before they were side-tracked, resumed their progress. The wounded were helped aboard the Moby Dick, while the rest brought up the rear, taking as many of their fallen comrades as they could.

The commanders stood on guard, senses focused in case of an ambush –however unlikely—as they watched the confrontation between the admirals and the assassin from Noite.

Weary eyes glanced towards the two raven haired pirates who were disentangling themselves from each other with a little help from Jinbe who was hovering nearby before one cursed and shakily stood up. The other was gathered into the arms of the large fishman, his eyes closed and seemingly dead to the world.

“Ace.” Whitebeard spoke, calling out to his youngest son. “Are you alright?” The worry was evident in the old captain’s voice. Shaking his head a few times to clear it, Ace looked up to meet his captain's eyes. Their previous conversation flashed through his mind, and he shrugged. The gesture apparently translated to something akin to “I’m fine” and Whitebeard felt his heart lighten a little.

His son looked worse for wear, but all things considered, it could’ve been a lot worse. He returned his attention to the battlefield, his resolution hardened.

“Marco!” He called, and the blond commander immediately turned to look at his captain. The large man grinned dangerously, his grip on his bisento tightening. “Take care of our family. And that brat over there—” The cloaked man looked up at him. “—look out for my children.”

The pirates were all staring at their captain, eyes brimming with tears whereas some were openly sobbing. They were aware of the possibility that their captain would not return from this battle, but most didn’t want to believe in it. Their captain…no, their father was the strongest man in the world; surely, he would be strong enough to get out of this together with them.

But he was saying goodbye.

With both his earlier declaration and his order to Marco, Whitebeard had solidified the fact that he wouldn’t be returning with his crew. Today would be the last they saw of that huge figure that gave them a home and a family once they left the waters of Marineford.

They would never again hear that booming laugh of their father nor bask in the warmth of his smile as he watched over his children. They would watch and be able to do nothing as he took a stand and protected them one last time.

The Whitebeard Pirates felt like their very souls were being torn out – how else could they describe that gut-wrenching pain that wrecked them at the thought of losing their father? The tightening of their chests that made it feel impossible to breathe?

What would become of them, without their captain?

…

“I refuse.”

A smooth voice cut through the anguish that had overcame the pirates, and all eyes turned onto the only unknown amongst them, who was smoothing out invisible creases in his cloak like he hadn’t just refused a request from Edward ‘Whitebeard’ Newgate.

“Like you said, they are  **_your_ ** children. I do not see why I should look out for them when it isn’t my responsibility whatsoever.”

He lifted his head, the mask completely hiding him from the Yonko’s hard glare. He didn’t even flinch, whereas many others would’ve fainted from the sheer intensity emitting from Whitebeard.

“Also, as I believe I have told you earlier, I have a mission.”

“Brat…” Whitebeard grunted, obviously exasperated. The Whitebeards watched the exchange curiously, feeling like they were missing a most crucial piece of the puzzle, because honestly, no one could make heads or tails of what the two were talking about.

“And I have absolutely no intention of failing because the result would be very painful for me,” He paused, and added. “And your crew and allies probably.”

“Things happen, brat. You can’t fight the unexpected.”

“ **_Wrong_ ** .” The man moved to stand by Oru. “Things will happen, that’s for sure. Just not the way  **_you_ ** planned. Besides, Rainha’s already out there stalling the admirals so you can escape –even Sengoku is busy with Garp—so there’s really not much standing between you and open sea.”

The man’s voice lowered suddenly, danger lacing his words. “I suggest you take this opportunity and get out  **_now_ ** . The Admirals will not be held off for long.”

“How long do we have yoi?” Marco asked, brows furrowed in concern.

“Five minutes, give or take.”

**_Fuck._ **

…

“EVERYONE MOVE, NOW!!”

* * *

 

The war was locked in a stalemate.

On one hand, the marines wanted to pursue the Pirate King’s son and his adopted brother. ON the other, there was nothing they could do against the might of the Whitebeard Pirates when their top fighters were all otherwise occupied.

Not to mention Garp was making things hard for Sengoku, to the point that the Fleet Admiral had to put most of his attention on the marine hero to prevent him from wreaking havoc on their own territory against one of their own, wherever the man maybe now.

Unexpectedly –or perhaps not so unexpected since it was Garp—the vice-admiral hadn’t taken kindly to Akainu trying to kill his grandsons and almost succeeding. Currently, he was throwing out death threats directed towards the magma-logia like a fountain spewed water.

“Sengoku!! Let me go! I’m going to rip that upstart Sakazuki a new one and more!!! How dare he try to kill my brats!!!”

Looking down resignedly at his long-time friend whom he was sitting on, Sengoku couldn’t help but feel a headache coming on.

_ Curse Garp and his damn family of felons. Forget headaches, I’ll be lucky if I don’t come out of this with something even more severe. _

"Your grandsons are safe, you idiot. Stop yelling   
and see for yourself."

"How am I supposed to 'see for myself' with your   
huge-ass sitting on me!"

_ Fair point _ , he thought, and moved off him.

Garp got up, and looked towards Akainu…well, where he thought Akainu was supposed to be. “Where’s that idiot?”

Sengoku sighed again and gestured towards the bay. “Somewhere near the ocean. Black Queen did something –what, I’m not sure—and sent him into the water.” He explained and pointed out the black-clad woman on the ice.

Garp’s eyes widened when he saw the assassin, and a weird glint crept into them which did not go unnoticed by Sengoku. The Fleet Admiral raised a brow at the  _ walking headache  _ suspiciously.

“You wouldn’t happen to know why Black Queen Rainha decided to save Fire Fist and Straw Hat, would you?” Call it intuition, or paranoia, whichever, but Sengoku had a gut feeling that Garp knew what was going on. Unfortunately, the answer he received was one that he fully expected.

“Nope!!” The vice-admiral laughed, his anger gone without a trace.

“We both know that’s a lie.” Sengoku drawled dryly.

“So what?”

“…nothing.”

Garp laughed again.

“You’re enjoying this too much, Garp.”  _ I really hate him sometimes. _

* * *

All eyes were on the Black Queen and the Admirals.

With Akainu temporarily out of the picture, Aokiji and Kizaru had taken a neutral approach to the situation. Granted, they still had a dagger to the throat each, but it’s wasn’t really a big deal. That could get out of their predicament easily if they wanted to, and they knew that Rainha was well aware of that fact.

Be that as it may, the assassin had piqued their interest, and both men decided that it wouldn’t hurt to find out the motives behind her actions.

Whatever answer they had been expecting, they surely had not foreseen what Rainha had said.

Aokiji held her gaze for a long pause. He couldn’t see her eyes with the hood on, but he could certainly feel the steely gaze trained on him.

“I suppose I do.” The ice-logia admitted, his expression giving nothing away. “But this and that are two separate matters entirely.”

“They’re only as different as you want them to be.” The assassin countered. “In the end, their nature is the same.”

“And your reason for intervening?”

“I imagine it’s similar to yours back then.” Rainha responded. “If things come down to what I think it may, where will you stand?”

“…that’s a tough question.”

“Isn’t it?”

Aokiji shrugged.

“Wherever justice is, I’d think.”

Rainha was silent for a moment, appearing to mull over his words, and then he felt the pressure on his throat disappear. A quick glace at Kizaru told him that the other admiral had also been freed of the assassin’s seastone weapons.

“You are letting us go, just like that?” Aokiji was dubious about her actions, wondering what she had hidden up her metaphoric sleeve.

“Would you rather I slit your throat?” Rainha replied with her own question, followed up by a baffling answer. “You won’t be here for long, though the same can’t be said for your two colleagues.”

If Aokiji had a slight inkling of what the assassin had meant, he wasn’t sharing. Kizaru, however, seemed to catch on, one brow raising lazily.

At that moment, Rainha jumped backwards unexpectedly, sliding a little on the ice as a wide crack appeared where she had been previously standing.

Marines shouted in shock as they noticed a huge, humanoid shadow behind their headquarters. Slowly, the shadow came to light as the mist around the buildings cleared.

“Ah, they saw me.” The shadow said. Another marine shouted, drawing attention to the fallen scaffold where eight figures stood amidst the settling dust.

Tension escalated to greater heights as the figures were identified.

“How did you get here?” Sengoku growled. Besides the original four, the Blackbeard Pirates had gained a few new members, and the marine fleet admiral was none too happy when he recognised them. They were all criminals whose existences had been erased from the records due to their extreme villainy—prisoners of Impel Down’s sixth level.

“The Giant Battleship, Sanjuan Wolf!”

“The Corrupt King, Avalo Pizarro!”

“The Great Drinker Vasco Shot!”

“The Crescent Moon Hunter, Catarina Devon!”

“And the head jailer of Impel Down, Shiliew of the Rain!”

At the head of the unsavoury group was Blackbeard himself, laughing as he greeted his former captain.

“Teach.” Whitebeard answered, his voice low and dangerous. Anyone who knew about what had gone down between the two captains instinctively shied away from Whitebeard who was literally radiating danger. The pirate crews were in a similar state, bristling with anger at the traitor, of which the Whitebeard crew’s killing intents were strongest.

“Blackbeard.” Rainha hissed as she held her daggers up.

The man whom that name belonged to turned towards the assassin, and his grin grew even wider, showcasing dirty yellow teeth that appeared to have never seen a toothbrush.

They would think they had imagined it later, but as of now, the marines closest to the assassin would’ve sworn that the woman had gone ‘Eww.’ at that display.

“Ah…Black Queen Rainha…did you receive my proposal?”

“I did.” Rainha shifted, moving into a battle-ready stance.

The large pirate laughed. “And your answer?”

“I fed it to fire.” She replied and drew out a rifle from  _ somewhere  _ underneath her cloak. “Paper makes for excellent kindling.”

In simpler words, she refused.

Without much aiming, she cocked the rifle and sent a bullet his way, only for it to be intercepted by another bullet.

“Impressive, as always.” The assassin commented dryly. “I see you haven’t gone rusty, Van Augur.”

“Rainha.” The marksman lowered his rifle and adjusted his monocle, his tone just as flat.

Shiliew, who was standing next to him, asked, a cigar hanging between his lips. “Someone you know?”

“A former colleague.” Augur replied.

“Former indeed.” She countered and pulled the trigger again. “I assume you are aware of your status.”

The bullet was once again, destroyed by another.

“Zehahahaha! Rainha, as I thought, you should join me! Your skills are truly befitting of the future Pirate King!” Blackbeard offered once again, though he never got an answer this time as a large ship with a dragon figurehead appeared through the mist, attracting everyone’s attention.

Large sails bore a skull with three red lines going across its left eye and two swords crossed behind it. Above the crow’s nest, a black flag with the same symbol fluttered in the wind.

“So, you’ve come…” Blackbeard grinned maliciously, an evil glint surfacing in his eyes.

Men lined the railing of the ship, yet the one key figure was nowhere in sight.

“It’s the Red-Haired Pirates!”

“Why is another of the Yonko from the New World here?!”

A slapping sound resounded across the battlefield, oddly loud despite the noise that had arisen due to the crew’s sudden appearance.

A red-haired man came into sight as the marines made way for him, subconsciously shying away from his overwhelming aura.

“I’m here to end this war.” His hand rested on the hilt of the sword hanging by his side, an unspoken announcement of his willingness to draw it. “If anyone still wants to fight, then come!”

His eyes flashed dangerously.

“We will be your opponents.”

Red Haired Shanks declared as his men flanked him, each standing tall and proud as they stared down the marines and dared them to fight.

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and leave a comment if you will, they are great motivators and I really enjoy reading them :)
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer : I do not own One Piece.

“What do you think, Teach – no, Blackbeard.” Shanks addressed the newest warlord with barely concealed anger.

 

           Their gazes met across the battlefield, and the emperor’s eyes darkened at what he glimpsed in the other.

 

           “You look more handsome than ever, Red Hair.” Blackbeard sniggered. “Those scars suit you.”

 

           “No thanks to you.” Shanks knew exactly which scars the warlord was referring to. Really, anyone who had been around long enough knew about them; there had been many rumours floating around the pirate grapevine about the story behind the scars, though the only ones who knew what truly happened was himself, his crew, a select few of Whitebeard’s crew and the man who gave them to him.

 

The mentioned scars twitched as he recalled how they had come to be.

 

           Behind him, he heard a gun clicking, and knew that Yasopp had his rifle held at the ready, aiming warningly at Blackbeard.

 

           “Oi, oi. This is a little unfair now, isn’t it?” Blackbeard remarked, gesturing to both Rainha and Yasopp. “There’s two of you against only one of mine.”

 

           Shanks glanced at the assassin, and though he couldn’t see it, he knew she was looking at him too.

 

           “I’ll take it from here, if you don’t mind.” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a statement, and the red-haired emperor was relieved when Rainha nodded and withdrew her gun.

 

           Briefly, he wondered what had gone down between the assassin and the Blackbeard’s sniper; it was clear to everyone watching that they had some bad history, if her attitude was anything to go by.

 

           “This will not happen again, Van Augur.” The Black Queen warned, and promptly disappeared.

 

           Shanks smirked, sensing her presence at the edge of the plaza next to Whitebeard. He was sure that exit had been done on purpose, and the gasps of shock from the marines all around were nothing if not satisfying.

 

_ That’s not Soru.  _ The red-haired emperor noted, and pushed it aside for the moment.

 

           “Well now, since Old man Newgate is busy, I’ll do him a favour and deal with you.”

* * *

 

The Whitebeards were just about to cast off when Blackbeard made his appearance, and the atmosphere amongst them and their allies immediately took a darker turn.    

 

It was expected, as the latest participant in the war had once been part of the Whitebeard crew. Despite wearing a mask, the cloaked man pulled his hood lower and watched the intense hostility radiating off the pirates around him. Whitebeard himself was releasing a large amount of haki that had many of the marines closer to the them passed out on the ice.

 

“That son of a bitch…” Ace growled. In response to his emotions, his fire flared up around him, bathing the surrounding area in a dangerous, orange light.

 

“Calm down, Portgas,” the man said, his voice low. “He’s not your fight.”

 

Every pirate in the vicinity turned, looking at him incredulously as if he’d said something incomprehensible. Which, in hindsight, probably was considering the history between them and Blackbeard. The man realised his slip up as soon as the words left him.

 

Ace was there in an instant, hands gripping the neck of his cloak and face in his, glaring at him with a feral intensity that would scare off a lesser man. “You want to say that to my face?” He snarled.

 

Not him though.

 

“Before you attempt to strangle me, perhaps you should take a look at your surroundings first.” the masked man reached up, easily prying off the second division commander’s fingers. “I know you and your crew want revenge on that guy –and you have every right to, considering what he did—but right now, your priority should be escaping. Blackbeard will not let himself be captured here, and neither should you.”

 

He swung his arm out in a wide arc at the sight before them. “Approximately three hours of war have created this. Seeing all this…this  **_destruction_ ** —” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Will you still continue to fight?”

 

The effects of his words were plainly visible; they resembled a bucket of icy water, instantly dousing the fire of revenge that had been raging only seconds ago, and the man knew he’d hit close to home.  _ Possibly too close, even.  _ He thought, glimpsing a watery shine in the eyes of the pirates.

 

He would be lying if he said he didn’t feel a little guilty about reminding them of the friends and family they had lost, but it was a necessary evil. They may not like it, but he was right, and the pirates knew that.

No one spoke; not him, not the pirates.

In the end, it was Jinbe who broke the silence.

“He’s right.” The fishman warlord agreed. “As of now, we should be escaping. This man and the Black Queen have created a chance to escape yet we are still here, wasting the precious time they have bought us.” Jinbe sighed, dark eyes flickering down to the teen in his arms. “We should be tending to the wounded.”

The warlord turned, climbing up the gangplank that led to the Moby Dick.

He watched as Jinbe disappeared onto the ship with Luffy and turned his attention back to Rainha. He’d gotten his message across; the rest were up to the pirates themselves.

…

Whitebeard surveyed his children as he suppressed his Haki, lost for words for once.

Like all his children, he wanted to tear that traitor apart, but the cloaked man’s words rang in his mind, watering down his anger to let rationality take the reins again. The ire was still there, simmering in the back of his mind, but with more at stake, he wouldn’t act on it now.

There was only one ironclad rule on his ship, and that was to never hurt family.

If some brave soul dared to breach that rule, they would face retribution from the entirety of the crew, allies included.

The old emperor’s eyes met the blue of his first mate’s, a silent message for them to leave. Nodding bitterly, Marco looked away to urge the crew’s retreat. Most of the pirates were already aboard –their allies were already out on open seas, waiting for them—and the only ones left were the commanders. Eventually, they too boarded their ship, leaving only Ace who still stood next to Whitebeard.  The cloaked man stood some ways away, next to the large bird that had carried them over.

“Oyaji…” Ace began, his head low. It was evident in his posture that he was reluctant to leave, even though Captain’s Orders were absolute.

Whitebeard sighed inwardly. He had known since Ace first joined, that this knuckleheaded son of his would be hit the hardest should he ever have to leave them. While he didn’t favour any children over the others, it was no secret that he had a soft spot for his youngest. Ace was very young, just barely out of his teens, and --though the kid himself denied it—sometimes cute in the eyes of his sworn family, despite the occasional complaints.

“Ace,” He said, reaching down to gently ruffle his hair. “You should go now.”

“But—”

“I’ve lived long enough. If I will die, it will be in battle. This place,” the emperor looked around him. “Will be my grave.”

Ace didn’t say anything, knowing the tone in his captain’s voice. Suddenly, he veered around and shouted at the cloaked man: “Hey, I thought you had a mission!”

The man turned towards them, his mask eerily white beneath the dark hood. “I do, but there is nothing I can do if  **_he_ ** will not be convinced.” He grounded out reluctantly. Whitebeard had a feeling that the brat wasn’t very pleased with him, but he would never change his mind.

“You’re not even trying!” Ace protested.

Before he could say anymore, Whitebeard stopped him.

“Go,” He said softly, nudging his son towards his beloved ship. “And send that Red Hair brat some sake for me.”

Ace looked up at him, dark eyes unblinking. Then he bowed towards his captain.

_ Thank you. _

__ __

He turned and ran onto the ship, the gangplank immediately withdrawn by some other crewmember. The other three ‘Moby’s had already cast out, leaving only the flagship still docked.

Whitebeard cracked a large grin as he watched his sons go, following their brothers and allies. These children were his pride and joy, and damn if he would let any more harm come to them.

Although the emperor himself had decided to stay, he hadn’t accounted for one other who had decided otherwise.

A presence suddenly appeared, alerting him to the assassin who had appeared out of nowhere. Subconsciously, he took a step back.

Whitebeard did not even have a chance to speak before everything shifted and he was suddenly seeing everything from an elevated height. Feeling a familiar rocking sensation, he looked around and found himself back on the Moby Dick with his sons staring slack-jawed at him.

“O-oyaji?!”

Groaning out loud, he turned to the prow, spotting the assassin, her companion and her bird standing at the edge of the ice, a small stretch of ocean between them.

Granted, he couldn’t see their faces, so he couldn’t tell what they –or rather,  **_she_ ** —intended to do, but if the way that gutsy brat next to Rainha was waving was any indication…

“Bye!!” The man yelled, a little too cheerful for the atmosphere around them.

Then, the ship started speeding up.

There was no wind, yet the sails were full.

Beneath the waves, he sensed a number of presences. “It’s the Sun Pirates!” Someone yelled.

Distance quickly grew between the pirates and Marineford; the marines stationed outside were already taken out by their ally crews, so the Whitebeards made it through to open water effortlessly.

Looking back at the island, Whitebeard zeroed in on the two small figures in black, their dark wear standing out sharply from the bleakness of the ice.

He snorted. “Cheeky brats.” He didn’t know if he was amused or annoyed, probably both.

Not a moment later…

“You’re welcome!!” The cloaked man yelled back, his voice carrying over the ocean, and bringing a grin to Whitebeard’s lips.

* * *

 

“Iva-san.” Somewhere in the bay, a certain man in white and orange lightly shook the glass in his hand, letting the deep red liquid within to sway with his motions.

  
“Yes?”

  
“Straw Hat is already united with his brother.”

  
“That vhe is.”

 

“And they have already left with the Whitebeards.”

  
“That’s right.”

  
“Shouldn’t we be getting off the island?” He asked and took a sip from his glass. “We wouldn’t want to get caught again.”

  
“Vyou’re right.” The large man with a purple afro next to him scratched his chin thoughtfully. Seconds later, he cried out loud, scaring most everyone around him.

  
“Candies~! Vwe’re getting off this island! To the ships!”

 

“Yes! Iva-sama!”

“Hee Haw!!!”

  
Inazuma trailed behind, watching as his leader and comrades terrorized the marines and hijacked a battleship, and took another sip.

 

It felt good to be free.

* * *

 

Aboard the Moby Dick, Ace slumped down against the railings, legs pulled up close and his head buried in his arms. No one bothered him, even though they were busy retreating and as the second division commander, he was supposed to be helping. But his ship-brothers knew better than that, and Ace was immensely grateful for it.

 

Images flashed through his mind. They were memories of his time with the Whitebeard Pirates, most of them of Whitebeard himself, and Ace couldn’t help the smile that grew at the remembrance. Especially of the days when he had been a ‘guest’ on the Moby Dick. (Which reminded him, he’d never actually apologised for being such an ass back then…)

Then the ship lurched without warning. Ace had no idea what was happening, but he did know that his head hurt. He groaned, pulling himself out of the stack of crates he’d crashed into.

“O-oyaji?!”

A familiar voice groaned loudly, and Ace was greeted with the sight of his captain’s, who had his back towards them. A loud goodbye could be heard, before he felt the Moby Dick start picking up speed. In the back of his mind, he registered someone mentioning the Sun Pirates, but Ace’s attention was all focused on Whitebeard.

The emperor was looking at Marineford and snorted at something Ace couldn’t see along with a comment about cheeky brats.

“You’re welcome!” Someone yelled, but it sounded far away, and his father broke into a grin.

Stunned, Ace didn’t return to his senses until they were out on the sea and well away from Marineford.

“Oyaji, weren’t you—” Next to him, Rakuyo sputtered, eyes darting between their captain and Marineford, which was shrinking by the second. “We thought—”

Whitebeard let loose a rumbling chuckle, jolting Ace from his stupor.

“I was,” Their father grinned. “But apparently, the Black Queen had other ideas.”

Marco, ever the logician, asked. “How’d you get on the ship though?”

Their captain laughed. “I have no idea.”

The entire crew fell silent as the implication washed over them.

_ She saved Oyaji…and me and Luffy… _ Ace thought, having mixed feelings about the entire matter.

He heard Marco sigh loudly and knew the first division commander was running his hand through his hair, like he always did when he was exasperated. “We really owe them yoi.”

“That we do, son, that we do.” Whitebeard replied. “Are you okay, Ace?”

Ace snapped up at the sudden address and nodded mutely. Compared to many of his crewmates, he was doing a lot better. He was only hungry and tired, while some of them had received wounds of varying degrees, and some…

The raven-head shook the thoughts away, not wanting to go there now. He’d have time later to deal with his emotions and the deep-seated guilt that threatened to swallow him, but now he would put up a front, so his father wouldn’t worry.

“What about your brother?”

_ Luffy…?  _ Ace suddenly remembered. Where the hell was his brother? He’d seen Jinbe bring him up, but the warlord was nowhere in sight.

_ Damn it! How could I have forgotten about Luffy!  _ Frantically scanning the deck, silver eyes quickly located the blue fishman who was just emerging from below deck.

“Jinbe!” He rushed over, nearly tripping and crashing into his friend. “Where’s Luffy?!”

He felt more than saw Jinbe reach out to steady him before gesturing to the door behind him. “He’s safe, Ace-kun. I put him in the infirmary.” Jinbe assured.

_ Right. Of course.  _ With a quick ‘thanks’ over his shoulder, the fire logia immediately disappeared into the bowel of the Moby Dick.

Ace followed a route that had over the past two years became familiar to him and reached the ship’s infirmary within minutes, slipping in through the open door.

  
  


The infirmary, which was usually so spacious, was jam packed with crew members – both injured and uninjured and. The injured were being treated by the doctors according to severity, while some others were filling in for the nurses, who were nowhere to be seen.

All in all, with the amount of people in the room, it was practically impossible to spot his little imp of a brother.

One of the doctors, Brolnis noticed his predicament and helpfully pointed him to one of the small, adjoining rooms generally reserved for severe cases. He made his way over quickly and found Huan, another doctor dressing the many wounds that littered the rubber captain’s body with the help of a crewmate.

“Luffy!” Ace rushed in, stopping short of the bed. He knew too well the temperaments of their crew doctors, who absolutely  **_hated_ ** it when someone interrupted their work, and right now wasn’t exactly the best moment to incur their wrath.

“A-ace…” Hearing his voice, Luffy’s eyes fluttered open and shifted to him. “Are you okay?” He asked weakly.

“You idiot, I should be asking you that.” Ace replied, moving to the side of the bed. “Don’t scare me like that, stupid little brother.”

Luffy tried to laugh, but only managed a rasp. “I’m not the one who got caught.” He retorted.

The room fell silent. Huan had already finished his work and left to help the others, giving the brothers some privacy. Ace sat down on the bed, careful not to accidently jostle his brother.

“Ace…I’m sleepy…” Luffy mumbled, stifling a yawn.

He was barely conscious now, and Ace reached out to gently ruffle his hair. His brother was obviously exhausted, and it was demanding to be allowed the rest it deserved through heavy eyelids. The older brother felt the other lean into his touch and smile softly.

They both needed the physical contact to assure themselves that neither would be going anywhere anytime soon. The clash with Akainu earlier had been a very close call.

One too close for comfort.

“Don’t leave….” Luffy yawned again.

“I’m not going anywhere, Luffy.”

“…pr’mise?”

“Promise.”

“O’ay…”

Finally succumbing to his body, Luffy closed his eyes, breathing evenly as he immediately fell unconscious, oblivious to Ace’s half-exasperated chuckle.

“…you’re such a troublesome little brother, you know that?”  _ But I wouldn’t have it any other way. _

__ __

His heart finally settled in his chest.

Propped up against the headboard, Ace soon fell asleep alongside Luffy.

As he slipped into the warm embrace of sleep, an image of the assassin who had saved him and Luffy flashed by in his mind.

_ She feels kind of familiar… the other guy too... _

* * *

 

“Fuffuffuffuf…now isn’t this interesting? Who would’ve thought, eh?”

 

“Black Queen Rainha, 880 million Beri bounty.”

 

“Oh, thank goodness!”

 

“The assassin’s guild, Noite, huh…”

 

…

 

Amidst the chaos, four figures stood idly beside the remains of the scaffold, surveying the last of the battle playing out down below.

 

On the leftmost side of the scaffolding, a dark-haired woman sighed in relief before turning down blue eyes in disdain. Flicking her long hair over her shoulders, she lightly caressed her pet snake who was coiled around her protectively.

 

“I’m leaving.” She stated coldly and stepped onto her snake.

 

A blond man chuckled just as the snake moved. “Leaving so soon, Hancock? The fun has just begun.”

 

The woman glared at him. “I only agreed to fight Whitebeard, not Red Hair or Black Beard. And who gave you permission to speak my name, you insolent man!”

 

“I did, of course.”

“I will be leaving as well. I only agreed to fight Whitebeard and not the other two. All things aside, this war has been a lost cause since Fire Fist and Whitebeard have both escaped.”

 

“Aww, you too, Hawky?”

 

Between the two, a dark-haired man with piercing eyes reminiscent of a hawk glowered icily at the blonde.

 

“My name is not Hawky, Doflamingo.” Adjusting his hat, Mihawk left for the far side of the island, where his coffin-shaped one-man ship was docked in a small port. Doflamingo attempted to return with a snarky reply, but Mihawk was walking away, and Hancock was already gone.

 

The blonde chuckled, looking to his other side where the last Shichibukai, Bartholomew Kuma, stood, stiff as a rock.

 

“Looks like it’s just you and me, Kuma. Those two are missing out.”

 

Kuma never answered him.

* * *

 

Rainha scanned the remains of the war that had just ended and sighed.

 

After Whitebeard had escaped, Blackbeard and his crew left as well, the man seemingly disappointed about something, but Rainha had paid him no attention.

 

As soon as he’d gone, Sengoku had ordered a ceasefire at the behest of Shanks.

Now, the marines were picking through the debris, retrieving their fallen comrades while the Red Hair Pirates recovered the bodies of any pirate unfortunate to be left behind during the Whitebeard’s hasty departure.

 

It was a solemn sight, and her companion too shifted in slight discomfort.

 

“Uncomfortable?” She looked at him, arms crossed.

 

“Not really,” Her companion replied, his tone a bit amused. “Just a bit…overwhelmed, you could say. It’s kind of ironic, considering what I do.”

 

She rolled her eyes, and promptly dug her elbow into his middle with a harsh jab, eliciting a pained yelp that was frankly quite satisfying.

 

“What was that for?” He complained, though he kept the volume to a minimum to not give away their location.

 

“You were being stupid.”

 

“What? WHY?!”

 

“Come on, there’s something I need to do.”

 

“I thought you were already done?” The man whined as he followed her.

 

“I left a few ‘gifts’ for the marines. I have to make sure they receive it, no?”

 

“Are you serious? You’re actually going to do it?”

 

“Yes, and yes. Now let’s go. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.”

 

“You’re crazy, you know that?”

 

“So are you.”

 

“…you’re not denying it?”

 

“No. Now shut up.”

* * *

 

For a day stained with bloodshed and filled with memories best left forgotten, the sky that night was surprisingly clear.

 

The moon was out, white and full with no clouds to hide it. It casted a soft light onto the Moby Dick, creating a calming image that soothed. Even the sea was quiet, waves lapping softly against the hull, as if she thought that they deserved a break after the day’s events.

 

Silently stepping out onto the small balcony at the stern where the commander’s quarters were located, Marco leaned against the railings and gazed down at the sea foam that trailed behind the Moby Dick in its wake. They had decided against stopping for the night; it would be better if they got as far away from Marineford as possible. No one could sleep anyway, so they’d kept sailing under the moon.

 

This was second-hand knowledge related to him by someone else, though. Marco himself had been in the infirmary the entire day and had only emerged when things had settled down some to take a breather.

 

_ So many gone… _ He thought sadly, remembering all those men he had seen cut down by the marines.  _ It may be a victory for us, but it certainly doesn’t feel like one. _

 

He watched the waves, silently grieving for the brothers he had lost. Having been on the sea for over two decades, the Phoenix was no stranger to death, but today was the first time he’d experience the loss of so many, and all within the span of a few hours.

 

So many lives,  **_gone_ ** , just like that.

And they had almost lost Whitebeard.

 

Marco drew in a shaky breath as he remembered his captain’s request to take care of their family.

 

_ I never want to hear those words again. _

 

He didn’t want to, but deep inside, Marco knew he would, sooner or later. It was inevitable. Whitebeard wasn’t getting any younger, and his health was deteriorating along with his age. Even though he hated it, the first division commander knew this the best.

 

Today had only made it worse.

 

Looking up at the full moon, Marco wondered what they would do now. Yes, they had ‘won’ the war and had gotten Ace back, but at the same time, the crew’s power was heavily diminished, and it would be some time before they would return to their peak.

 

Furthermore, Teach was still out there.

 

There was no doubt that the man would come after again, though there was no saying when. It was obvious that the traitor had come to Marineford for a reason, and they would have confronted him had it not been for that man pulling them back to their senses. If that had happened, Marco was scared to imagine what the outcome would’ve been.

 

A long sigh escaped the blond commander as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

 

“Stressed?” A voice sounded behind him.

 

Lost in his thoughts, Marco had failed to notice the sound of geta clacking on the floorboards growing closer and was startled when someone spoke to him.  

 

“Izo? I thought you were in your room yoi.” He asked, remembering seeing the other commander go into his room earlier.

 

“I was only changing.” Izo replied, now clad in a plain kimono and his long hair gathered loosely at the nape. His usual make-up was gone as well. “Being caked with dust and grime isn’t a very pleasant feeling.”

 

Marco chuckled, before pulling a face at his own clothes. “Now that you mention it, I’m pretty filthy.” He clicked his tongue, picking at a dark spot on his sleeve. He didn’t know what it was, but it probably wasn’t going to come off.

 

“You are.”

 

Deciding he would change later, the first commander turned back to the ocean and Izo followed suit, leaning his arms on the railing.

“How’s Oyaji?” The sixteenth division commander asked, dark eyes fixed on the horizon.

 

“He’s doing fine…well, as fine as could be for someone his age.”

 

Long, slender fingers started drumming on the sanded wood. “He’ll recover, won’t he?”

 

“Eventually.” Another sigh. “But…”

 

Izo glanced at Marco out of the corner of his eyes. “…You know Oyaji wouldn’t want us to worry like this.”

 

“He’s sleeping. He can’t tell me not to worry.”

 

“I can.”

 

Marco glared at his brother from under hooded eyes, a silent question in his eyes and Izo yielded after a minute.

 

“Fine, I won’t,” he admitted. “but only because I’d be a hypocrite if I did.”

 

The blonde turned back to the view, this time leaning further out to find the silhouettes of their other ships that were sailing close by. There was also another ship a small distance away that belonged to the Sun Pirates.

 

Both fell silent, until Izo decided to break it. “Well, enough with the depressing topics; let’s talk about something else.”

 

“Like what?” Marco drawled.

 

“The Black Queen?” The dark-haired commander suggested.

 

“What about her?” The other turned so that his back was against the railings, his usual bored expression set firmly in place. “I know as much about her as the next person. You’d be better off asking Haruta.”

 

“True, but Haruta’s on the Moby Three now and I’m here.”

 

“And?”

 

“If you want the truth, I have nothing to do now and her recent actions have admittedly made me rather curious.” Izo smiled wryly and looked up at the sky. “I don’t think someone like her would do what she did today without reason, though I am thankful that she did.”

 

Marco shrugged. “Things would probably have been a lot worse if she and that guy hadn’t showed up.”

 

“Very true.” Izo agreed. “I do wonder why, however. They don’t really stand to gain anything by aiding us; as a matter of fact, there  **_is_ ** nothing to gain.”

 

“Except a favour to us yoi.”

 

The sixteenth commander looked over inquiringly, causing the blonde to sigh and lace his fingers together over his middle.

 

“You do remember who the leader of Noite is?”

 

Izo nodded.

 

“And you also remember that that man is in the same group of legends as Oyaji, Roger and Garp?”

 

“Your point being?”

 

“My point,” Marco grinned lopsidedly. “is that those legends have a sole, common trait, that being that they are all as whimsical as humanly possible yoi.”

 

Izo deadpanned. “So, you’re saying that she did that just to get into our good graces.”

 

“That or she’s just as capricious. Frankly, I wouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet.” The first commander stood up and stretched. A few ‘pop’s sounded as bones cracked, a testament to just how stiff he had been. “Besides, Ace probably knows something.”

 

“Doesn’t he always?” Izo snorted, reminded of the countless surprises the fire-logia had given them since he joined the crew two, almost three years ago.”

 

“Exactly.” Marco paused, trying to recall if he’d seen the fire-logia after leaving Marineford, only to find that he couldn’t remember seeing the younger anywhere. “Speaking of Ace, where is he yoi? I haven’t seen him at all and he wasn’t on deck when I came up earlier.”

 

“Where do you think?” Izo rolled his eyes. “He’s in the infirmary, holed up next to his little brother’s bed.”

 

“Right.” Because  **_of course_ ** he’d be there.

 

Marco vaguely remembering seeing the name Monkey D. Luffy when he’d sifted through the medical records earlier but hadn’t paid it much thought.

 

“Straw Hat is direly exhausted. He likely won’t wake up for a week, at least.” The first division commander mentioned, recalling the few lines written in the young captain’s records.

 

“Mmhm.” Izo nodded. “And that’s why our dear little brother has brought a pillow and blanket and claimed the floor next to his little brother as his temporary bed.”

 

“Come again?” Marco asked sceptically, wondering if he’d heard right. While he had expected Ace to do just that –because it’s Ace—he hadn’t expected to hear that he’d brought a blanket.  

 

Since when did Portgas D. ‘Fire Fist’ Ace, second division commander and pyromaniac-extraordinaire ever need a blanket? The man himself was a walking furnace that was literally immune to temperature. Granted, he did have blankets, but the twenty-year-old rarely used them.

 

Many could testify to this; occasionally, when he overslept, and someone was sent to get him, they’d step into the room to find one Portgas D. Ace on his bed (or in some cases, on the floor) with his pillow under his head while the blanket was on the other side of the room. It had also ended up on top of the closet once, apparently. No one knew exactly how it got up there, not even Ace.

 

“Ace brought his pillow and blanket and set up camp next to his brother’s bed. And no, I’m not pulling your leg. Namur ran into him on his way up.” Izo schooled his expression into one of genuine confusion and mimed carrying bundles under his arms. “’Of course I’m bringing a blanket. Luffy wouldn’t be happy if he saw me sleeping without one regardless of whether I’m cold or not,’” He put his arms down and smiled wryly. “Or so he said. Talk about a serious case of brother complex.”

 

Marco chuckled, sounding lighter than he’d ever been today.

 

“I’m going back to the infirmary yoi. I’ve been out here a while.” The first division commander motioned towards the door. “Are you coming?”

 

Izo shook his head. “I’m gonna stay a little longer to let my hair dry. Then I’m going up on deck to find a drink.” He glanced at his brother teasingly. “Should we save some for you?”

 

“Yes please.” Marco replied instantly. “For once, Oyaji can’t steal our drinks, so might as well.”

 

“Should I tell everyone you gave the okay to deplete the stores, so you’ll have a valid excuse not to give Oyaji any?”

 

“Tempting, but no. Even if there were alcohol left, I am absolutely not giving him any until he’s recovered.”

 

Izo snorted. “Good luck with that.”

 

“That, and alcohol poisoning is a huge pain in the ass.”

* * *

 

The following morning was bright and sunny, a stark contrast to the grimness that enveloped the sun-kissed decks of the Moby Dick and its sisters.

 

When the sun rose, Marco had roused the crew and gathered them on deck, hungover or not to give an update on the crew’s current state.

 

The previous day, as soon as things had calmed down and they had gotten far enough from Marineford, each division commander had done a headcount of their division and reported the tallies to Marco whilst their allied crews did the same via Transponder.

 

The numbers weren’t pretty.

 

Compared to their original numbers, the Whitebeard crew had lost about one eighth of their crew.

 

Those numbers didn’t even include the loss their allies incurred.

 

The Whitebeards were completely silent as they took in the news. Though they tried to hide it, they couldn’t quite manage to stop the shaking in their hands. Tears were shed not too quietly, but none had the heart to say anything when they themselves had to make an effort to keep the sting in their eyes at bay.

 

The Sun Pirates who were sailing next to them remained silent as well, respectfully giving the Emperor’s crew the space they needed.

 

Marco allowed some time for his crew to grieve, before relaying to them their next course of action which he and his fellow commanders had decided on after an early morning meeting.

 

The crew needed to recover, and after much discussion, the commanders had decided to head to Whitebeard’s homeland. It wasn’t part of the World Government and the marines had no jurisdiction there, so it was an ideal location for the crew to hide out on.

 

On their way there, they would make a quick stop at Spesery Island --a small, backwater island on the edge of the Calm Belt under Whitebeard’s protection—to pick up their sisters and restock.

 

“Many of our family was lost,” The first division commander began, “But they will be forever in our memories. For them, and for ourselves, we will continue living life to the fullest.”

 

Blue eyes met those of the crew with a steady gaze.

 

“Do not let their sacrifices be in vain yoi.”

 

In response, the Whitebeard Pirates grinned, and let out a huge roar in concert. The ships shook with their yell, as if they too were agreeing.

 

Shortly after, the crew dispersed to different corners of the ships, falling into some semblance of routine for all that it would never be the same. The wounds were still raw, but they had each other to lean on.

 

The cooks hastened to their respective kitchens to finish cooking breakfast. It was getting late; the crew needed the energy to keep the ships running and darn it all if the cooks weren’t going to do their jobs right.

* * *

 

_ He glared down at a straw hat-wearing boy who was sitting at the base of a large tree, tied to it and smiling. _

 

_ “Let’s kill him.” _

 

_ “Right. Let’s do that.” _

 

_ “EEHHH!!! Don’t kill me!” _

 

_ And then the sounds of the forest faded away. _

 

_ He looked up, expecting to see dense tree canopies, but found a dirty wooden ceiling instead. _

 

_ “Here’s dinner.” A large, orange-haired woman yelped, barely catching the deer thrown at her. _

 

_ “Roast it. Fast.” _

 

_ “Dinner!!” _

 

_ He walked past her, pipe in hand and suddenly he was flying, a voice yelling to not come out until they counted to ten thousand before he landed in hot water. _

 

_ Right. This was the bathroom. He remembered. _

 

_ And then he felt heavy. Sinking. _

 

_ A hand wrapped around his middle and pulled him up above the water. _

 

_ “I’ve got him!” _

 

_ Who…? _

 

_ “…why do you call him your father, anyway?” _

 

_ “Because he calls us his sons.” _

 

_ A familiar voice. He lifted his head. _

 

_ “It’s just a word. But it makes us happy.” _

 

_ A familiar face. _

 

_ “Everyone is a child of the sea.” _

 

_ Marco. _

 

_ Whitebeard. _

 

_ A sword pierced through skin and flesh, protruding from the man’s back. _

 

_ Traitor! _

 

_ He wanted to scream. _

 

_ Screams resounded through the air, and he looked up. _

 

_ “It doesn’t matter, we’re gonna die!!” _

 

_ A figure with a straw hat free fell from the sky and he felt his heart skip a beat. _

 

_ Luffy! _

 

_ “Sabo was such a kind older brother.” A childish voice sighed. _

 

_ “What’s that supposed to mean?! Would you rather I died instead?” _

 

_ Trees shifted, turning into a worn, wooden cottage. _

 

_ “I heard that you were a naughty boy, Ace-kun…but you’re surprisingly well-behaved.” A woman’s kind voice said, and he felt his face grow warm. “I-If you say so.” _

 

_ Snickering could be heard nearby. _

 

_ “He’s embarrassed.” _

 

_ “Ace, your face is all red!” _

 

_ … _

 

Ace’s hand was intertwined with Luffy’s tightly as he slept, head pillowed on his other arm and snoring lightly. His pillow had been thrown across the room, while the blanket had slipped from his shoulders to the ground.

 

This admittedly heartwarming scene was what greeted Marco when he entered the room.

 

Picking up the pillow, the first division commander made his way over soundlessly and placed it at the foot of the bed before draping the blanket on the back of Ace’s chair.

 

Marco’s eyes flickered between his fellow commander and the tray in his hands that carried a large bowl of steaming hot broth.

 

_ Should I wake him?  _ He wondered.  _ Though normally he’d wake up on his own the moment he smelled food. _

 

Ace grunted and turned around so that he faced Marco, and only then did the Phoenix notice the many different emotions that flashed across the younger man’s freckled face. He wondered what Ace was dreaming of to have so many reactions. One moment he was smiling, and then it turned into a frown. Sadness appeared soon, followed by a low growl which quickly turned into a whimper. The older D. started to fidget, and Marco took that as his cue to wake the sleeping man.

 

“Ace, wake up.” Marco lightly kicked his chair.

 

Ace stirred a little but didn’t wake.

 

Marco called his name again and kicked a little harder.

 

Still no.

 

Resignedly, Marco took two steps back. He didn’t want to do this, honestly, but Ace was having nightmares now and the first division commander didn’t need to touch him to know that his hand would come away damp with sweat.

 

“UGWAHH!” Ace yelped from where he was sprawled unseemly on the floor. “Marco? What the hell–”

 

Marco used his legs to expertly launch the pillow he’d picked up earlier into Ace’s face, effectively silencing him.

 

“Lunch.” The blonde placed the tray down on the newly vacated chair. “You missed out on breakfast yoi.”

Ace rubbed his face and yawned. “How long have I been asleep?”

 

“Assuming you haven’t woken up in between, about sixteen hours, I think.” Marco gestured to the tray. “Eat up.”

 

Ace looked over at the tray. The broth smelled nice, and probably tasted great, but…

“I’m not really hungry.” He didn’t  **_feel_ ** hungry, though his stomach apparently wasn’t on track with him.

 

_ Growl. _

 

“…your stomach clearly says otherwise.” Marco commented.

 

Ace merely turned away, pointedly not looking at the older pirate.

 

Marco sighed and plopped down on the floor opposite Ace. The fire-logia was still not looking at Marco, though he was clearly struggling to maintain his distance.

 

“Ace, you  **_need_ ** to eat yoi.” He nudged the bowl over. “Huan did a check-up on you while you were asleep; I don’t know when you last ate but you’re showing signs of malnourishment -- no doubt thanks to the last month in Impel Down – and you’re exhausted.”

 

“I just slept for sixteen hours! I’m not tired!”

 

“You’ve slept but you haven’t eaten anything yet. If you want to get back in shape quickly, you’re going to have to eat.”

 

Ace pursed his lips, still reluctant. However, he was starting to waver, and Marco would die before he let that opportunity slip away. God knew this kid was even more stubborn than a bull.

 

“Izo told me what you told Namur about the blanket yoi.” Marco pushed, motioning at the sleeping form of the Straw Hat captain. “How do you think your brother would feel if he knew you weren’t eating?”

 

“He’d be mad.”

 

“My point exactly.”

 

“Fine, I’ll eat.” Ace mumbled and reached for the bowl.

 

Before his hand closed around it, Marco stopped him and pushed the spoon into his hand instead.

 

“Eat slowly yoi.” He cautioned. “Your stomach won’t be able to take it if you gulp it all down like usual.”

Marco couldn’t help but feel a tad bit guilty as he watched Ace slowly drink the broth, void of the vigour that had always been present during meal times previously. He had played low, using Luffy’s possible reaction to get Ace to eat.

 

But hey, at least it worked.

 

The first division commander regarded Luffy, taking in the copious amount of bandages covering what visible part of his body. According to Huan, who’d taken care of him, it was mostly superficial wounds. There was some internal bruising and bleeding, but nothing life-threatening. The young captain would heal quickly with sufficient rest and food.

 

_ Thank Roger Ace has such a huge soft spot for you, eh? _

 

It may have been a trick of the light; in the sunlight that filtered in through the portholes, Marco thought he saw the corner of Straw Hat’s mouth twitch upwards ever so slightly. He smiled to himself.

 

_ I guess the feeling’s mutual. _

* * *

 

**_Beep._ **

 

**_Beep._ **

 

**_Beep._ **

 

**_Beep._ **

 

In a dimly lit room somewhere, a man lay unmoving, his auburn hair a clear contrast against the plain white of the sheets. He seemed to be asleep, the covers rising and falling in rhythm with his breathing.

 

Beside him, a monitor glowed lightly, multiple lines that zigzagged across the screen displayed numbers that depicted the man’s condition.

 

A petite brunette stood in front of the monitor, writing down the numbers on a clipboard that she promptly placed on the bedside table. Her hands were shoved into the pockets of her lab coat.

 

“This is the sixth month already.” Her lips were pursed as she watched him breathe. “How long are you going to sleep?”

 

_ Why are you still here? _

 

A sharp knock broke her from her thoughts.

“Windry!” Another woman, dressed in a pink nurse’s uniform burst into the room, waving a copy of the paper excitedly. Her expression was a mix of excitement and relief. “They got him!”

 

The brunette – Windry—grinned and turned back to the man, while the nurse knowingly exited the room.

 

“You hear that?” She glared at the man. “Our family won the war and took him back. They’ll be here soon, so you better wake up quickly, you hear me?”

 

Then, under her breath, she added. “He did it for you and got into this mess because of you; the least you could do is wake up to greet him.”

 

The door closed none too quietly as the woman left.

 

_ Twitch. _

 

The monitor beeped a little faster.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


  
  



	4. Chapter 4

A log raft that looked like it had seen better days bobbed along the waves of the Grand Line, the morning sun shining down on a ragtag group that was the paradigm of ‘sunniness’.

 

In the middle of the raft, Blackbeard sat against the mast with his arms crossed, swearing darkly as he considered his present circumstances.

 

As far as he was concerned, the previous day had been a considerable setback; originally, his plan had been to go in, grab his former captain’s fruit and hightail it out. The ‘going in’ part had went off without a hitch, but the latter parts – which also happened to be the most crucial – had had a wedge thrown in when that damned wild card appeared. And no, he wasn’t talking about that stupid Straw Hat.

 

If anything, he had actually anticipated Straw Hat’s appearance at Marineford; the brat was a D and related to Ace, after all. He would be more surprised if he hadn’t shown up.

 

No, the wild card Marshall D. Teach was seething over was Black Queen Rainha, the assassin elite who had effectively torn down all plans – no matter his or the marines or even Whitebeard’s – the moment she protected Ace and his brother from the blow that would’ve took either life.

Thanks to that blasted woman, his plans had gone up in flames. The large pirate growled as he remembered his failed objective.

Not to mention that infernal redhead.

Because of that bastard, the marines were unable to go after the Whitebeards; there was no way they could handle taking on another Emperor crew, not after their earlier clash with the World’s Strongest Man. Either way, the two Emperors wouldn’t be pursued.

The same couldn’t be said for the Blackbeards, however.

With the shiny big target gone, he and his crew were the only ones remaining. While the marines could be wholly ignored, Red-Hair and his crew were a whole new level of  _ pains in the ass _ , and Blackbeard absolutely did not want to take them on now. Not when his crew was still, admittedly, unstable as fuck.

So, he had made a  _ strategic retreat _ .

…

Naturally, the marines didn’t let them go without a fight, but really, it was more for the sake of retaining their image –however much was left of it anyway—than apprehending the now-former warlord. The Blackbeards easily reached their ship –raft—and got out.

With the Gates of Justice still open, they left Marine Headquarters, re-entering free waters. Behind them, they could faintly make out Sengoku ordering a ceasefire.

 

The log raft jolted violently, snapping Blackbeard out of his thoughts.

 

“Wolf!” The captain yelled and scowled at the former prisoner.

 

“Sorry capt’n.” The giant replied, completely unapologetic.

A bird cry sounded overhead, and a rolled-up newspaper dropped onto the raft, right into Blackbeard’s lap. He unrolled it, sneering at the headlines.

_ He was going to have to make other plans. _

* * *

 

News of the war spread like wildfire.

The day after, the newspapers had released a special issue along with the daily paper which was crammed with news about the war. Everything they had managed to capture from the live feed at Sabaody and then some was translated into words and put down on paper.

That day, practically everyone had a copy of the special and it was all people talked about.

With the Whitebeards victory over the marines, no one could say for sure what would happen next. Not when the war had involved a good number of Grand Line powers, including the Marines, two Emperors, a Supernova, the Warlords, the Revolutionaries and surprisingly, Noite.

While the special was mostly dedicated to what would later be known as the Paramount War, there was a section at the end for the assassin and her accomplice who had saved the Pirate King’s son at the last minute.

There wasn’t much available where the accomplice was concerned –no one knew who it was—but the journalists had done their best to dig up information about the Black Queen.

Despite their efforts, information was scarce. In the end, most of the section became a compilation of various theories and speculation about the assassin. Some were admittedly interesting, but most of them were utterly ridiculous.

Passing a group of pirates, an old man chuckled and pushed up his glasses as he listened in on their conversation.

Honestly, the things people think of.

He moved through the lawless zone of Sabaody stealthily, arriving at a hilltop bar in Grove thirteen.

The bar was empty, save for a woman with short, dark hair who had a smoke in one hand and the day’s paper laid out on the counter. She looked up as the man closed the door and dropped down in front of her.

“You’re back early, Ray-san.” She smiled and reached under the counter. “Rum or sake?”

“Rum.” The man, Rayleigh, caught the bottle she tossed at him. “I see you’ve been reading the paper.”

“It’s all the rage now.” The woman handed him a shot glass. “A lot has happened yesterday.”

The old man chuckled and reached for the paper, pulling it over to read. They maintained a comfortable silence; the man reading as he drank straight from the bottle and the woman watching him as she smoked.

Finally, when the man finished reading, the woman reached for his bottle and filled a glass for him. “So, Ray-san, did you hear anything while you were out?” She smirked, leaning on the counter.

“Some people are convinced that Rainha is Ace’s secret lover, hence why she exposed herself to save him.” Rayleigh grinned as he recalled some of the gossip circulating around the archipelago. “Some say she’s secretly a Whitebeard, however absurd that sounds.”

The woman hummed in amusement and tapped the remains of her cigarette into an ashtray. “I wonder what she thinks of it?”

“Knowing that girl, she’d complete disregard it. Ah, another bottle please, Shakky.”

Shakky handed him a fresh bottle of alcohol. “She would, wouldn’t she?”

“Have you been in contact lately?” Rayleigh asked as he opened it and took a large swig.

“Not for a while. She’s been busy, apparently.” Shakky rested her head on her palm. “Do you want to talk to her?”

Rayleigh laughed, saying that she knew him too well. She smiled serenely and passed him a transponder snail that she’d pulled out from underneath, a white snail attached. “It’s a private line.”

“Thanks.”

A couple rings later, the call was answered.

_ “Name and business.”  _ A voice spoke coldly.

“This is Silvers Rayleigh.” At the mention of his name, the snail’s expression contorted slightly before blanking out again.

_ “Oh, it’s just you.”  _ He thought he heard the person on the other end click her tongue, but her tone had gained a bit of warmth.  _ “What do you want?” _

__

“Nothing really, I just need a little favour…”

* * *

 

“Thank god they’re okay!” A green-haired woman exclaimed, a hand resting over her chest as if to calm her pounding heart. On the other side of the counter, a large woman with curly ginger hair and a short man with round glasses shared her relief as they read the headlines of the latest paper.

 

The large woman snorted at the other woman. “As if those brats would go down that easily. They’re too stubborn for that.” Though she tried to sound nonchalant, she couldn’t quite hide the grin that was forming on her lips.

“You’re right, of course, Dadan-san.” The green-haired woman laughed and wiped a stray tear. “Ace and Luffy are both strong. And their sister is with them too.”

The man harrumphed. “Doesn’t change the fact they’re all criminals who’re going to tarnish our village’s name!”

Makino laughed again. “Well, I should be preparing lunch soon. I’m sure everyone will be coming in soon!”

Right on cue, several villagers burst through the Party Bar’s door, grinning like madmen.

* * *

 

On a ship, somewhere on the Grand Line.

“This is definitely him.” A petite brunette said to the crowd that had gathered around her to read the newspaper.

For once, someone’s attention wasn’t on the Whitebeards or the Black Queen, but on the blurry picture that featured a cloaked man standing next to Whitebeard.

“No doubt about it. No one else would wear a cloak besides him and Rainha.” A fishman with yellow skin agreed.

Next to him, a young man scanned the paper cluelessly. He was a recruit that had joined just a month ago and had been assigned to Koala’s group on their latest mission to learn the ropes. So far, all had gone well, but there was still a lot he had to learn. For example, who the army’s leaders were.

“Who’s that, Koala-san?” He asked, pointing at the paper. The young man knew his colleagues were discussing the person, and from their words it was obvious they knew him, but he didn’t. The second the words left him, all eyes were on him.

“Hmm? Oh, him? He’s no one.” Koala waved her hand in the air dismissively. “Just our good for nothing Chief of Staff who dumped all his work on me and went off to play hero.”

The rest of the revolutionaries started cracking up, except for the poor guy who looked really confused.

“Surprised?” The fishman, Hack observed.

“I thought Koala-san was the Chief of Staff…”

Koala snorted. “I’m his deputy, or as some like to put it, a glorified babysitter.” She tilted her head thoughtfully. “We should be expecting a call soon.”

At that exact moment, the transponder in the room started ringing.

* * *

 

“Sir, today’s paper just came in.”

Behind a large desk, a man who appeared to be in his sixties looked up to regard his assistant curiously. “Anything interesting?”

His assistant, a tall, lean man with dirty-blond hair coughed into his hand. “Depends on your definition of ‘interesting’ really…” He handed over the folded stack of papers.

The man reached for the special first.

After a few moments, he started chuckling. “Have you read this?” He asked his assistant.

“I have, sir.”

“She’s gone and done it, hasn’t she?”

“That she has.”

“And I was wondering where she’d disappeared off to.” The man flipped to the next page. “Since she didn’t bother to answer my calls.”

“Were you worried, sir?” The assistant asked teasingly, receiving a sharp look in return.

“And you idiots weren’t?” The man retorted. “I don’t know about the others, but I’m pretty sure  **_you_ ** were super worried.”

At his words, his assistant turned a nice shade of red and started sputtering before he hurriedly excused himself, but not before his superior got another word in.

“Don’t be shy! We all know you like her!” The man then muttered under his breath. “Everyone except her.”

That was the last the por assistant heard as the door shut, well, the last besides the howling laughter.

Clutching his middle which was starting to hurt from laughing too hard, the man reached for his transponder that sat on his desk. “I suppose I’ll give her a call.”

* * *

 

A large man with curled hair burst through the ornate doors that lead to the parlour, frantically waving the rolled-up paper in his hand.

“Cobra-sama! Vivi-sama!” He hollered, drawing the attention of the four people in the room, including a blue-haired girl and her father who were enjoying their breakfast.

“Igaram! Slow down!” The girl, Vivi giggled as the captain of the royal guard bent to catch his breath. The guard held out the paper towards the princess. “The war… Whitebeard… won…”

“What? Really?” Vivi cried as she snatched the paper out of Igaram’s hands. A gasp of relief escaped her as she took in the headlines, feeling a weight lift from her heart as she read. “Oh, thank goodness! Luffy and Ace-san are both safe!”

The four men in the room smiled, glad to hear the good news as well. While they didn’t know the Whitebeard Second Division Commander in person, they had all heard stories about him from the princess who had met the pirate himself. Fire Fist Ace had made quite the impression on the blue-haired girl, to say the least, despite their short time together.

When news of Fire Fist Ace’s capture and subsequently, his execution came out, the princess was understandably distraught, for she viewed the man as a friend. At the same time, she was confused, and so were the king and his guards. Granted, Fire Fist was a Whitebeard commander and a fearsome pirate in his own right, but even so, it shouldn’t have warranted a large-scale execution at Marineford. The marines were asking for war, and there was no doubt that Whitebeard would give it to them without hesitation.

After reigning for many years, his intuition towards political matters had been greatly honed; King Cobra was sure that beneath all the uproar over the execution, there was something else at play. A single piece of the puzzle that they were missing…

“It also says that Portgas D. Ace is the Pirate King’s son…” Pell muttered from where he was reading over Vivi’s shoulder. “Guess that explains why the marines made such a show of his execution.”

It did.

“That’s not the only thing they said.” Chaka added his own two bits. “Apparently Luffy-san is the son of Dragon.”

Vivi blinked in surprise at the revelation, but it quickly faded into nonchalance. Ace was the Pirate King’s son and Luffy was Dragon the Revolutionary’s? 

 

 _Oh well, guess that’s just Luffy’s family for you._  

 

Honestly, Vivi thought she should’ve seen this coming since the day she met Monkey D. Luffy.

* * *

 

After making sure Ace was fed and updated, Marco returned to his room for the first time in the past two days and flopped onto his bed.

His body groaned at the feel of soft mattress beneath him and the First Commander felt some of the tension fade away. His fruit was amazing and all, but it didn’t really do much for the fatigue that stemmed from being up for two days, fighting in a war, fighting a second figurative war in the infirmary and reorganizing the crew after their escape.

Not to say that he would have a problem functioning for another day or two or even a week without proper rest, but a good few hours of sleep couldn’t hurt anyone. Besides, there wasn’t much to do for now; everything was in order, the wounded were resting, their course was set, and his mental to-do list was almost all checked. And to be fair, it was his brothers who’d made him agree to get some sleep after he’d checked up on Ace.

Therefore, without even bothering to remove his sandals, Marco closed his eyes and entered a blissful sleep.

…

His eyes flew open to the sound of hurried knocking, and Marco’s Haki immediately told him that it was Vista outside his door. Yawning, the blonde answered the door.

Vista’s hand was held out, ready to knock again when the door opened.

“What’s up?” Marco asked a little blearily, blinking away the last vestiges of sleep. The fifth division commander gestured towards the open door at the end of the corridor.

“Red Hair just called.”

Marco felt a familiar twitch in the corner of his eye at the mention of the redhead Emperor.

“What does he want?”

Vista shrugged, and Marco sighed. “Fine, just let me put on my sandals…never mind, I’m already wearing them.” The blond commander glanced at his feet and remembered that he hadn’t taken his shoes off before he went to sleep.

Both commanders made their way over quickly to the door, stepping into a large room that acted as the Whitebeard Pirate’s navigation and communication room.

At the front of the room was the ship’s helm which looked out at the ship and its blue mistress through large glass windows. At the side were shelves stacked with books and maps and various things while a large table took up most of the middle, a detailed map spread out over it. There was also a cabinet next to the table which held a vast array of Eternal Poses and extra Log Poses. At the back of the room, tables were arranged in a ‘U’, with Transponder Snails lined up on them.

There were few people in the room; one at the helm keeping an eye on the log pose that was attached to the helm, another with a transponder at the table, and another by the transponders.

 

When Marco and Vista entered, the three men immediately greeted them. The commanders returned the greeting and headed for the man in the back, who was holding up a transponder’s receiver towards them. With three long strides, Marco reached the crewmember and took the receiver from him.

“Red Hair.”

There was an immediate response from the other side.  _ “Marco! What took you so long? I was about to hang up!” _ A familiar, annoying voice complained.

“I was busy.” Marco replied simply. “What do you want?”

_ “Is that any way to speak to someone who helped you?” _

__

The blond almost growled. “Get to the point, Red Hair.”

_ “Okay, okay.”  _ Faintly, Marco heard the other mutter something that sounded like ‘killjoy’, but his tone took a more serious turn when he spoke next. _ “I have some of your…guys with me. I figured the old man and you all would like to have them back to send them off properly.” _

__

“Oh.” The first division commander was suddenly at a loss for words.

As if he hadn’t heard Marco’s lame reply, Shanks continued speaking.  _ “Is there anywhere our crews can meet up? Like, do you have a place in mind?” _

“…we haven’t actually thought of that.” Marco unwillingly admitted. Of course, that wasn’t quite true. It had been a constant thought that lingered in the back of his mind, but despite his travels, no idea came to mind.

Shanks was silent for a bit, and then there were sounds of the receiver being passed to someone. Marco had a pretty good guess who was now on the other end of the line.

_ “Phoenix.” _ a gruff voice spoke.

“Beckmann.”

_ “We’re headed for Faune Island now.”  _ Ben Beckmann said.  _ “Give us a call when you’ve found a place.” _

__

“We will, and…” He couldn’t believe he’d ever say these words to Shanks, but… “Thank you.”

He heard Shanks laugh on the other end before the call was hung up.

“We really owe them.” After a pregnant pause, the silence was broken by the fifth commander, who was absently stroking his moustache.

The other three crewmembers simply remained silent.

“They’re not the only ones.” Marco sighed, and left the room with a call over his shoulder, saying that he was going to visit Whitebeard.

The day passed without incident, and soon, the sun started to dip below the horizon, signalling the end of the day.

After he had checked on their captain, Marco had returned to his room to catch up on a bit of beauty sleep. Not that he needed it for ‘beauty’ but he did only get two hours of sleep before Vista woke him and he was still tired. It was amazing how he hadn’t felt the exhaustion before, but after a bit of rest, he felt dead on his feet.

At any rate, he’d wager he’d been asleep for another hour or more, judging by the orange light pouring through the porthole. Ideally, Marco would sleep until he woke of his own accord, yet someone up there must’ve had a grudge against him and so decided to wake him up in the worst way possible.

The first division commander clutched his midsection, doubled over on his bed after  _ something  _ crash landed on him with the force of a cannonball. A  _ Garp-launched  _ cannonball.

“What the fuck…” He felt his flames flare to life and the pain subside.

The  _ thing  _ that had landed on him had rolled onto the floor, revealing it to be a  _ someone.  _ A someone who was yelling at the hole in his roof indignantly with raised fists. “That was uncalled for!”

__

The voice sounded a tad bit familiar, though the commander couldn’t quite place it.

“I only ate two!”

“When I said NO!” A second voice, a female, yelled back. It sounded further away though.

“OH, COME ON!” The person in his room complained loudly.

Marco gazed up at the new hole in his ceiling and lowered his gaze to his  _ unexpected visitor _ .

The man was dressed in clothes that reminded Marco vaguely of the stuffy suits nobles loved to wear in the overall design. However, looking closer, the commander could see the difference between those gaudy monstrosities and the clothes on this man which appeared to be designed for practicality. A worn, blue top hat with goggles around the rim sat on his head of messy blond curls, obscuring most of the man’s face from sight.

“You’re that guy,” Marco remarked as he recalled why this man’s voice was familiar. “The one from yesterday.”

The man turned towards him, blinking owlishly.

 

“Oh, hi.” He greeted casually, blatantly ignoring the fact that he was somewhere he had no business being in. Marco glared at him with a deadpan look.

 

“Hi yourself.” Marco’s eyes narrowed. “What are you doing here?”

 

“Oh, you know…” The man made some sort of wavy gesture in the air. “Just checking in?”

 

“Riiiiiiiiight.”

 

“Hey – “

 

And then Vista chose that exact moment to burst in.

 

“Marco! The Black Queen is – what happened?” The swordsman’s eyes immediately went to the new –and crude—skylight in the room.

 

“This guy,” Marco jabbed a finger in the other blonde’s direction. “Gave me a very rude wake-up call is what happened.”

 

“Uh huh.” Vista coughed into his fist. “Anyway, we should get out onto deck.”

 

Marco raised a brow questioningly.

 

“The Black Queen is here.”

 

…

 

By the time Marco reached the main deck where Fossa had said their guest was with one extra in tow, a crowd had already gathered around the unexpected visitors. It was only because of the large empty space around them that Marco spotted Rainha easily; while she was strong, she didn’t seem quite as endowed height-wise.

 

The pirates gave the assassin a wide berth, if for no other reason than the large avian next to her that glared at anyone who tried to come close.

 

The two commanders pushed through the crowd to the front, where one of the other two commanders on board were. Izo stood with his arms crossed inside the sleeves of his kimono, where he was surely fingering the pistols hidden within.

 

The top-hatted man slipped past them, sliding into place next to Rainha with eyes shining mirthfully.

 

“Black Queen Rainha.” Marco greeted, and promptly noted that his observation had been accurate. The Black Queen was almost a full head shorter than him, and the first commander was one of the smaller-sized people on this crew.

 

“Commander Marco.” The assassin replied, and then bowed her head. “I apologise for this sudden intrusion. We mean no ill intent.”

 

Her voice was soft, without a hint of the coldness that was present yesterday.

 

A hand snaked out to push down on the top-hatted man’s head, earning a protest from him though a slap over the head successfully crushed any further argument.

 

Taken by surprise by the sudden apology, Marco hastily stepped forward. “It’s alright, really.”

 

“In fact,” he bowed deeply. “We should be thanking you. Though we may be loath to admit it, without your help, we might have lost both Oyaji and Ace in the war.”

 

Marco knew very well how his crew felt about yesterday’s victory: It wasn’t a victory at all. They might have been blinded by anger and desperation in that moment, but in hindsight, it was obvious that the pirates were on the losing end of the spectrum. The Whitebeards were strong, but the marines had superior numbers and superior technology, not to mention the topographical advantage.

 

And they had Ace.

 

However, the men had had a strong belief in themselves; they believed they would win, they believed they would get their brother back, they believed they would defend their pride as the strongest crew on the five seas and they believed in many other things…

 

They believed that they had failed, because they believed it wasn’t them who won the war, but a woman assassin.

 

Marco could feel Rainha’s gaze on him. After a moment of silence, he heard her sigh softly. “We didn’t do it for you.”

 

The pirate raised to his full height with the others following suit.

 

“Well then, to what do we owe the pleasure of a visit from the most beautiful assassin on the seas?” The blond commander inquired, topping it off with a bit of shameless flattering.

 

The other blond next to Rainha rolled his eyes and muttered. “The most beautiful assassin? He’s never even seen her face.”

 

Another slap on the head shut him up, and Rainha looked towards Marco.

 

“We’re here to see Fire Fist and Straw Hat.”

In the infirmary, Ace fell asleep once again after eating the lunch that Marco brought him.

After being imprisoned for almost a month without proper food or rest, his body was on the brink of collapse.

 

In Impel Down’s Level 6, which was in no way comfortable, Ace had spent his time there hanging from chain that chaffed his wrists and left his entire body sore and aching; what little sleep he did get was never enough to relief him, not with the seastone that bound him. At the same time, the meagre amount of crap the guards called prison food coupled with the Whitebeard commander’s high metabolism ensured that Ace had a mild case of muscle atrophy. The little work out he had after he was released didn’t help matters either.

 

Or so Marco had told him anyway. Marco never joked around where the crew’s health was concerned.

 

Regardless, Ace obstinately refused to sleep anywhere that wasn’t near Luffy. Insecurities aside, he had promised Luffy that he wouldn’t leave, and Ace was nothing if not determined to uphold it.

 

He’d endured a few weeks of sleeping in chains in a dirty old cell, what’s another week of bad sleep? At least he had freedom of movement, right?

 

Ace was pretty sure that Marco was regretting telling him that he expects Luffy to wake up within the next few days; it only solidified the second commander’s resolve to camp out beside his little brother.

 

Belly full and his baby brother next to him, Ace drifted off into sandman’s land in the dim infirmary room.

 

…

 

_ The ASL trio were scouring the trash heaps, looking for anything they could use or sell when heavy footfalls interrupted their everyday banter. Eyes narrowing warily, Ace glanced in the direction of the footsteps, expecting to see Sabo’s pompous ass of a father. _

 

_ However, instead of Outlook lll, a large man with curly black hair and missing teeth stood in front of him. His eyes immediately zeroed in on the two limp forms in the man’s hands. _

 

_ “Zehahaha! Commander Ace, your brothers are pretty cute, aren’t they?” The man laughed and shook Luffy around like a rag doll. “Especially this one.” _

 

_ “Blackbeard!” Ace growled as he recognised the man. “Let them go! Don’t you dare touch my brothers!” _

 

_ Ace shuddered as the man laughed again, whether from fear or anger, he didn’t know. _

 

_ “What’re ya gonna to do ‘bout it, commander?” The man gestured at Ace with his left hand, Sabo swinging wildly with the movement. “In case ya haven’t noticed, ya are a kid too!” _

 

_ Ace looked down in horror, taking in his small stature and much smaller hands.  _ He’s right,  _ Ace realised.  _ I’m a kid now.

 

_ He started to panic. What was he going to do? He couldn’t beat Blackbeard as an adult, let alone as a child! But if Ace couldn’t beat him, he couldn’t save Sabo and Luffy and if he couldn’t save them… _

 

_ Ace refused to go there. If he did, he might just sink into an endless loop of fear, hate and regret that was neigh impossible to break. The ten-year-old sunk to his knees, Blackbeard’s noisome laugh ringing overhead. _

 

C’mon Ace, think!  _ He yelled to himself.  _ There must be some way you can save them! There must be!

 

_ “Ace!” A clear voice cut through Blackbeard’s laughter like a hot knife through butter and pulled him out of his despair. _

 

_ Then, Blackbeard disappeared and, in his place, stood a teenage girl with short, jet black hair. Her hand was outstretched towards him, inviting him to take it. _

 

_ Sabo and Luffy stood next to her, bright grins present as always. _

 

_ “Don’t worry, Ace. You’re safe. The bad man’s gone now, see?” The girl said. She wasn’t smiling, but her tone was warm and gentle and  _ safe.  _ A hand was on Luffy’s head, ruffling his already tousled hair. “Sabo and Luffy are safe now.” _

 

_ Ace unconsciously took a step forward, his hand reaching out to meet hers. _

 

_ “I’ll protect you, Ace. I promise.” _

 

_ Just a little closer… _

 

“Ace!”

 

Ace very nearly jumped out of his skin when someone shook him violently. Shocked out of slumber, he looked up to see Izo next to him, a hand placed on his shoulder.

 

“Izo?” Ace yawned, blinking blearily. Izo chuckled at the sight.

 

“Rise and shine, sleeping beauty.” The sixteenth commander joked, calling Ace by one of his more popular nicknames. “You have guests.”

 

“What guest?” Ace yawned again and rubbed his eyes. “Why would I have guests?”

 

“Beats me, just come up and see for yourself. They’re waiting on deck.”

 

Giving Luffy a quick once over and a small whisper that he’ll be back soon, Ace followed his ship-brother up to the Moby Dick’s deck.

 

The crowd of pirates had already begun to disperse by the time he and Izo arrived at the main deck, and Ace immediately went the unfamiliar trio that stood next to Marco and Vista.

The bird –Oru, he recalled—and the woman in black –which must be Rainha—Ace recognized on sight, except the last of the trio, the blond, top-hatted man in blue. For some reason, that combination sent alarms blaring through his mind, but he pushed it away and looked towards Rainha.

“I heard you wanted to see me?” Ace asked, remembering what Izo had told him on their way up.

He couldn’t see her eyes beneath the hood, but Ace was sure that the assassin was looking somewhere else.

“…where’s Straw Hat?” She asked.

“Unfortunately, my brother won’t be joining us.” The second division commander cracked a small, lopsided grin. “You’ll have to stick with just me.”

The Black Queen snorted –at least, he thought she did—and gave the man next to her a light push.

“Don’t you have something to say?”

The unsuspecting man stumbled some, and he lifted his face to glare at the assassin, allowing Ace to see the face that had previously been hidden in the shadows of the hat.

He froze.

“…Sabo?”

 

…

Ace felt like he was in a dream, because the man in front of him looked exactly how he envisioned Sabo to look like as an adult, but he couldn’t be Sabo! There was simply no way!

_ Sabo is dead. Has been for ten years.  _ He thought bitterly. Now he knew why the man looked familiar, because his clothing was uncannily alike to what Sabo used to wear back then.  _ He can’t be him. _

Because Sabo never had a chance to grow up. His journey had ended the same day it started, on those peaceful waters ten years ago.

A familiar heaviness that weighed on his heart reminded him every day about how weak he was back then, and the tattoo on his arm pushed him to train harder every day, determined to become stronger so he could protect those he cared about.

__

Ace glared heatedly at the man. “Who are you?” He growled, grabbing the man by his napkin – _ cravat, Ace.  _ Sabo’s voice corrected—and hauled him close.

With their proximity, Ace could see clearly every detail of the man’s face; his expressive round eyes, his prominent nose, his strong jawline…and the ugly pink scar that surrounded his left eye and extended behind his ear.

He also saw the small flicker of panic and hesitance in those dark brown eyes, like he was trying to figure out what and how to tell Ace. Although Ace wasn’t exactly known for his patience –rather the contrary—and nearly threw a hiken at the man when he was silent for too long.

“Wait, wait! Hold up!” The man threw his hands up when he saw Ace’s free arm turn to flames. “I can explain!”

The second division commander merely held up his flaming arm.

“I am Sabo!” The man cried before dropping to his feet, leaving only his cravat in Ace’s hand. “And I’m not lying!” He quickly added before Ace could say anything.

“Prove it.” The fire-logia challenged.

The man subsequently hooked a finger underneath his shirt and pulled out a pendant. It was a simple design, just a long chain with a blue ‘S’ dangling from it. “You recognize this, I hope?”

Ace paled and started to tremble. Then, without warning, his punched the man, sending him crashing into the deck.

Sabo propped himself onto his elbow, caressing his cheek where the fire-logia’s right hook had made solid contact. “I probably deserved that.” He mumbled.

“You fucking bastard!” Ace hauled him up by his collar. Again. “Where the fucking hell have you been? As a matter of fact, how the hell are you not dead?!”

Sabo pried his fingers off his shirt. “If you’d let me explain, I’d tell you.” To be frank, Sabo was getting a little annoyed already; this was already the third time Ace had grabbed him by the collar, if he counted yesterday.

“I’m not supposed to, actually,” Sabo started, and Ace glared at him again. What was that supposed to mean? “But you have a right to know and my boss has given me the green light to, so you can stop glaring daggers at me because it’s really no scarier than it was ten years ago.”

“Well?”

Sabo averted his eyes guiltily as he retold the incident that led to him losing his memories and joining the Revolutionary Army. “I only remembered a few months ago.”

“A few months?!” Ace roared. "What took you so damn long to remember!? And why didn’t you come find me if you remembered  **_months_ ** ago?!"

I had my reasons." Sabo replied, but said no more. Ace recognised that look in his eyes and sighed. It was that look Sabo got whenever there was something he didn't want to tell them. For once though, Ace didn't care. He had just gotten his brother back and for now, that was all that mattered.

 

Pulling him close, Ace wrapped Sabo in a bone crushing hug, his head buried in the crook of his brother’s shoulder. Sabo recognised the tell-tale signs of crying from the way his shoulders shook, though he remained quiet, only lifting a hand to pat Ace’s back soothingly.

 

A moment later, Ace pulled away and grinned, tear tracks still visible on his face. "Luffy will be so happy when he wakes up.” He sniffed and rubbed his eyes. “And Nee-chan too! And everyone else back at Dawn! We have to tell them-"

 

"Actually, Nee-chan already knows." Sabo cut in. “She was the one who helped me remember.”

 

“What? How?”

 

“Long story. I’ll tell you later.”

 

“I have to call her.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Because she found out you were alive, and she never told us!”

 

“I was going to surprise you, so I asked her not to.” Sabo huffed exasperatedly. “Also, you can stop looking for a transponder, because she’s right behind you.”

 

“What?!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regret nothing.  
> Read, give kudos and bookmark this if you like it and leave a comment or two! I will greatly appreciate it!


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